


To Build A Home (And Find A Family)

by anxious_soul



Series: Tony Stark-Centric Series [71]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Adopted Children, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Canon Divergence - Iron Man 1, Domestic Avengers, Gen, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Bad At Titles, Iron Man 1, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Parent Tony Stark, Phil Coulson & Tony Stark Friendship, Pre-Iron Man 1, Serious Injuries, The Avengers Except Tony Are Children, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Is a Good Bro, Tony Stark Still Has Arc Reactor, Tony Stark is Good With Kids, Younger Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-10
Updated: 2019-11-21
Packaged: 2021-01-26 13:10:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 22,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21374677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anxious_soul/pseuds/anxious_soul
Summary: In which, 23-year-old Tony is a very charitable man and stumbles across the run down Avengers Children's Care Home and anonymously donates some money, however, the man running it, Phil, finds him and Tony finds himself helping out and getting to know the children.AKA the Avengers plus Bucky and Loki are all children in this universe and Tony finds a family.
Series: Tony Stark-Centric Series [71]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1126895
Comments: 232
Kudos: 413





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this idea really came out of nowhere (though, it did prompt me to rewatch 'Tracy Beaker Returns' because childhood and chapter 3 was definitely inspired by a scene in the show), but I've enjoyed my little universe here and hope everyone else does too! Also, I have aged down Tony because why not -I did with the others! 
> 
> I am so sorry for taking two months to upload another story but I have good reasons: I've been busy with work -new job on my only free day through week (barring weekend), school and sorting all of my university stuff out -I actually sent out my UCAS (UK thing where you sort uni applications out) application and have got 3 offers out of my 5 so far! Then I had my driving test -I passed with only 2/15 minors I am super happy and can actually go places now! And life, in general, has been chaotic. I've also been working on this story for almost a month now and you know that I always write out the full thing before uploading, which is why it's taken so long for this to be done as it's probably the longest fic I've actually written in this series.
> 
> -kudos if you read all of that.

What no one knew about the twenty-three-year-old genius, was that Tony was very charitable. Sure Stark Industries was charitable, but when Tony had taken over, Obadiah had made sure he knew it was because of the press and public image it gave the company by being seen ‘giving back’. So Tony donated out of his own pocket -it’s not like he didn’t have enough money to do so, hell even with the number of donations he did, he and six generations _at least _would have enough money to live expensive carefree lives. And he did it in secret, he didn’t want people to know because they’d assume it was selfishly done when it really wasn’t. 

Then one day, he and JARVIS stumbled across a small run-down children’s care home called Avengers House. He could tell that the funds for the place were insufficient and decided to make an anonymous donation. What he wasn’t expecting was for the man running the care home to call him several days later after _somehow _managing to find out that Tony was the donator. The man was persistent and Tony eventually agreed to meet for coffee.

**——LINE BREAK——**

“I’m Phil Coulson, I run the Avengers Children Care Home, thank you for meeting me.”

“No problem, I assume you know who I am.” The man nodded as Tony took a sip of his coffee, which was surprisingly good despite the coffee shop being incredibly small and cosy-looking, “I have to admit I am confused by this whole ordeal.”

“Well, I told the kids that someone donated a very large amount, enough for us to replace all the old furniture and have a little bit left, I’ve asked them to write suggestions for what we could do with it. But, they wanted to know who the donator was. So I tracked you down Mr Stark and let me tell you, I was greatly surprised and curious as to why.” Tony shrugged, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

“As much as the news and press portray me as an asshole, I’m really not as bad as they think.” He shrugged again, “Mr Coulson, I have more than enough money to last at least six more generations to live without ever working and my income is only increasing, so one day there’ll be enough for twelve generations and so on. I doubt I’ll ever have children, so I may as well help out where I can. I didn’t do it for the press, I didn’t do it for the company, I did it because you and all those other run down and forgotten charities and care homes _need _it.” When he stopped, Tony saw Coulson’s smile, the man seemed proud.

“That was the answer I was hoping for Mr Stark.”

“Please, call me Tony. Never Mr Stark, that was my father.”

“Tony.” Phil nodded, “the kids would be really happy if you’d come over one day when you have the time, so they can thank you.”

“I…I’ll see if I can find the time.”

“That’s all I ask.” He smiled and Tony found something very comforting about the smile, he downed the rest of his coffee, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with the genuineness of the man. 

“Okay…well, I…umm…gotta go.”  


“I don’t doubt that we’ll see each other soon.” He heard Coulson call as Tony hastily left the coffee shop.

**——LINE BREAK——**

About a week later, Tony found himself driving down the roads of a rougher neighbourhood in one of his less flashy cars before pulling to a stop in front of a building that had scaffolding -he could tell that his donation was being spent to fix up the building- covering the front. Tony stood at thefront door, unsure of what his next action should be; did he knock on the door or turn around and leave? He hadn’t called ahead for this reason. Raising his fist to the door, he inhaled deeply and exhaled before knocking three times. 

He waited anxiously for someone to answer the door; he began to turn away and leave when the door opened.

“Oh hello Tony,” Phil said with a kind smile as he stood to the side to let Tony walk in, “I have to admit, I was beginning to worry if you’d come or not.”  


“Sorry, work, what can you do?” He joked trying to hide how uncomfortable he felt, he didn’t doubt that Phil saw through his lie -because that’s what it was, sure he had been busy with work, he always was, but it was more of an excuse to postpone his visit- but the man said nothing, merely beckoned Tony to follow him through the corridor.

“No worries, I’m just glad you showed. The children will be excited to meet you, there just in here,” He moved to the side and Tony looked in through the open door to see a bunch of children doing their own things but they appeared to be relatively behaved -Tony thought too soon. 

As if they read his mind, a small sandy-haired boy jumped up and grabbed the book that a black-haired boy had been reading causing a taller and broader blond boy to chase after him, demanding he return the book. 

“That’s enough!” Phil shouted, “Thor let go of Clint, Clint give Loki his book back.” Begrudgingly, they did as told, “now, this isn’t the sort of behaviour I think the donator of all that money would like to see.” That caught everyone’s attention, including the be-speckled curly brown-haired boy who hadn’t so much as twitched and looked away from a collection of stapled papers that he was reading through when the chaos happened, the children all turned to Tony, who squirmed ever so slightly at the stares. 

**——LINE BREAK——**

“Why don’t you all sit down in a circle and introduce yourselves, okay? Names, ages and…how about your favourite thing to do?”  


“Okay, Mr Coulson.” Some of them said almost in unison and Phil turned to Tony,

“Yes, sir, yes.” Tony joked with a silly grin as he saluted the older man and grabbed himself a chair, squeezing in between the two boys who had been reading. 

“Would you like anything to drink?” Coulson asked before he left,  


“Coffee please.” He nodded and left, leaving Tony to the mercy of a bunch of children.


	2. Chapter 2

When it became apparent that no one was going to start, another tall and broad blond boy spoke up from where he sat opposite Tony.

“Hello, my name is Steve. I am eight years old and I really enjoy drawing.” 

“I’d love to see some of your artwork, Steve,” Tony said with a smile, which the young boy reciprocated and nodded with a blush of embarrassment before turning to see if the disabled boy to his right would speak; they seemed to have a small conversation using only their eyes before the boy shook his head, 

“And this is Bucky, he’s a bit shy. He’s nine years old and my bestest friend in the world. He loves science-y stuff but doesn’t understand it all that well.” Tony withheld a chuckle when Bucky’s eyes narrowed at the last part of Steve’s sentence, reaching over and smacking his friend on the arm.

“I’ll have to show you some of the things I’ve built then Bucky, I’m sure you’d like them.” The boy didn’t say anything but he peeked up at Tony through the curtains of his hair, which the genius took as interest.

“I am Natasha, I am nine years old, I am Russian and I like ballet.” She stated very seriously and Tony nodded with a smile, 

“Your English is very good, you’ll have to teach me some Russian though.” Tony murmured and was surprised to see the young redhead blush a little bit with a shy smile,

“I’m Clint,” the boy who had stolen the book earlier stated, “I’m seven and I love archery. I’m super good at it too.”  


“Well, you’ll have to show me sometime,” Clint nodded in agreement with wide eyes. 

The boy with glasses said nothing and so the big blond on Tony’s other side, the younger black-haired boy sat between Tony and him, decided to speak up instead.

“I am Thor, I’m eleven years of age and I enjoy watching storms,” he pointed to the boy beside him, “this is my little brother, Loki, he is six years old and enjoys reading, especially fantasy.” He then gestured to the last boy, who hadn’t wanted to speak, “and on your other side is young Bruce, he is five years old and enjoys reading too but he is very into science.”

“Thank you, Thor, I agree, storms are very fun to watch.” The boy grinned, “and Loki, you’ll have to show me what books you like, I’ve got a very big collection of fantasy books, you might be interested in them.” Tony stated, despite his books being for older audiences, he realised that the younger boy must be very intelligent as he had been reading the Hobbit earlier, “and Bruce, you can come chat to me about science -I’m a very science-y guy.” The said nothing but Tony could see the small hints of a smile threatening to break out across their faces. “Well, I’m Tony, I am twenty-three years old and I enjoy…” he paused not really sure how to answer because what did he enjoy doing? “umm…I enjoy building things like my ‘bots and my AI.” That caught the attention of most of them, which caused Tony to explain and talk about his favourite creations that he saw as his own children.

**——LINE BREAK——**

After introductions, Tony left them to their own devices and joined Coulson in the kitchen after a few trials and errors with opening the wrong doors. 

“They’re a good bunch of kids; odd, but interesting.” He murmured as he took a sip of his coffee,

“That they are. As much as they fight, they are very protective of each other.”  


“They’re their own little family,”  


“Yeah.” Tony was curious to ask about them because he knew there was much more to the children than it seemed, but for once, he realised it wasn’t his place; if Coulson wanted to tell him maybe one day, then Tony would listen, but if he didn’t want to, then Tony would respect that. 

A hand tugged at Tony’s jeans and he looked down to see a very shy looking Bruce, who was peeking out from behind Coulson.

“Hello Bruce, how can I help you?” Tony asked gently as he crouched down to be eye-level with the youngest child, 

“Go on Bruce, you can ask him.” Phil murmured kindly and the curly-haired boy held up the papers he had been reading earlier, holding them out for Tony to see, 

“Oh wow, have you been reading my published papers?” Bruce nodded, red tinging his cheeks, “that’s amazing, Bruce, you must be super-duper smart -Coulson, why didn’t you tell me you had a future doctor in the house?” Tony heard a very faint giggle from the boy but he said nothing,  “what areas of science are you interested in, Bruce?” He got no response as the boy looked away.

“Sorry, he’s very shy, it’s honestly amazing that he approached you at all.” Coulson murmured as he stood behind Bruce, gently draping his arms across the boy’s shoulders, he turned back to Bruce, “shall we go back to the living room?” Bruce nodded and Tony watched as they walked away leaving him in the kitchen, but he wasn’t alone for long. Shortly after the young boy who was missing his right arm, Bucky, walked in.

“Hey, Bucky was it?” He nodded, “want to see something cool?” Bucky looked curious but still said nothing as he pulled himself up onto the stool beside the standing man so they were more level with each other. Tony pulled out his phone, placing it on the island in front of Bucky, “your friend said you liked futuristic-type stuff, so you might like this.” He pressed a button and suddenly a hologram appeared on top of the phone, 

“Woah,” Bucky gasped, “that’s so cool.” He whispered with wide amazed eyes, “what else can it do? Did you make this?” It seemed like the hologram was enough to get Bucky to start talking  


“The question you should be asking, Bucky, is what _doesn’t _it do.” He explained the many functions, telling the enamoured boy that he made it and it was the only one in existence, it wasn’t on sale,

“But why?”  


“Well, some people aren’t ready for the future, kiddo, and whilst most of my products are on a level above everything else, this is just a bit too much for people.” Bucky nodded in understanding,

“Stevie is like that, he doesn’t really like technology, can’t even use the tv remote.”

“Really?” Tony chuckled causing Bucky to send him a bright grin and nod,

“Yeah, he’s useless. ’t’s why he needs me about to show ‘im.”

“Well, I’m sure you’re doing a brilliant job, kiddo.” Tony murmured when he saw the boy deflate ever so slightly and Tony had a feeling it had something to do with his missing arm, not knowing what exactly to do, Tony smiled and stood up straight, holding his hand out for Bucky to grab, “why don’t we go show the others my phone? You can tell them what I told you, yeah?”  


“Yeah, that sounds nice. Thank you, Mr Stark.” Bucky murmured as he jumped down, gripping Tony’s hand as the genius held his phone in the other,

“Call me Tony, okay? Mr Stark was my father.” The young boy nodded and they entered the living room. Tony let go of Bucky’s hand and handed his phone over to him, watching as the boy rushed off to his best friend and several of the others hurried over to see what Bucky was doing.

Someone nudged his hand and Tony looked down to see the young boy whose book had been taken when he had arrived.

“Hello Loki, is everything alright?” The boy said nothing as he grabbed Tony’s hand and led him over to the small but full bookcase that had multiple brightly coloured beanbags in front of it.

**——LINE BREAK——**

Following the black-haired boys’ lead, Tony plopped himself down on the bright blue beanbag.

“You alright, kid?”

“What…umm books do you like? You…you mentioned you…umm had a lot…” He spoke quietly and shyly as if afraid Tony would ignore or cut him off.

“Well, now don’t let anyone know this because I’m renowned for my love of tech, but I like all sorts of books -I’ve got a library at home and I swear I’ve read at _least_ every book _once_.” He said in a joking tone and earned a very _very _quiet giggle from Loki, “but I’d have to say the Harry Potter books are definitely a favourite of mine, have you read them?” Loki shook his hand in a so-so gesture before working up the courage to verbally elaborate,

“I’ve read the -the first book…but we -we don’t have them and -and the library only has the first, fifth and sixth books…so…so I haven’t finished it…the series…but I -I found it int -inter -interesting.”  


“I see,” Tony mumbled, Loki must’ve seen something in his expression,

“But -but I -I don’t mean for you to buy them! That -that was -wasn’t what -what I was trying to do, please -please don’t think me selfish or -or-“  


“Loki, breathe, kid. I know that wasn’t what you were doing, honest. It’s okay.” Tony hurried to say as the boy worked himself into a panic, “why don’t you tell me which books you’ve enjoyed reading?” He asked and thankfully, it worked to calm the boy down.

Loki seemed to point to almost every book on the bookcase, quietly telling the genius what they were about. A faint smile was on Tony’s face as he listened to the passion in the little bookworm’s voice as he spoke about the books.  


“Well, thank you for telling me about the books, you little bookworm. You’ve actually reminded me that I never finished reading the Sherlock Holmes books -I lost my copy years ago and forgot to replace it.” Tony stated with a grin as he stood up, the young child blushed and mumbled something inaudible.

**——LINE BREAK——**

He stayed at the home for a few more hours, Steve showed him some of his sketches and for such a young child, he was certainly good -Tony even showed him some of his own designs, whilst it wasn’t exactly drawings, (Tony always did blueprints in pencil before moving it to the computer), Steve seemed to think they were very good.

He spoke with Thor and watched some storm videos with the boy, who amused Tony by looking so very amazed. 

Clint proudly showed off his trophy for coming in first place at an archery competition, he told Tony about it with a bright grin.

The redhead happily gave Tony a small ballet performance and with a blush almost matching her hair, Natasha showed him the trophies she’d won alongside a couple of certificates from winning or earning a place at ballet contests. 

Then it was time to go. He’d spent almost the whole day there and had genuinely enjoyed himself.

**——LINE BREAK——**

“Tony, thank you for today, it’s been a while since they’ve had such a good and _different _day.”  


“No problem, Phil. Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I felt genuinely happy.”

“They do have that effect.” Coulson murmured with a smile as he and Tony looked at the children who were messing around in the living room.

“I’ll go say goodbye then.”

He started with Natasha, only the little girl decided to take his hand and walk them back over to Coulson, who raised an eyebrow at her,

“Phil. Mr Tony has made Bruce smile and giggle, and Bucky and Loki smile and laugh and talk today.”  


“I am aware of that, Nat.”  


“I would like to keep him.” Coulson sighed at her demand whilst Tony tried to withhold a laugh,

“Me too.” Came several voices and looking over his shoulder, Tony saw that the rest of the kids had gathered, 

“I’m sure that Mr Stark is too busy to-“  


“Well, I mean I am but if I am allowed to…well, I’d like to come back. Help out and hang out with the kids.” Tony cut in shyly causing Phil to stare at him in surprise as the children began to chant ‘please’.

“I…if it’s no bother, then we’d love to have you hear Tony.”  


“It isn’t.” Tony murmured with a smile before turning around to face the kids, “but I do need to make it clear that I am not going to be adopting any of you, I’m sorry if that’s disappointing, but I thought it best to get that out before I end up misleading anyone.” Surprisingly, they nodded in understanding, though Tony saw a couple of faces shift sadly, “but I will try and come at least once a week and spend the day with you guys.”  


“Thank you, Mr Tony.” Several of them said whilst the others smiled their approval and gratitude.

Before Tony could leave again, Loki wandered over to him and handed Tony a thick, scrappy, old and well-used book, turning it over he saw the faint words across the cover reading ‘_The Complete Sherlock Holmes’._

“You…you said you never finished it so…so I thought you’d like to.”  


“Thank you, bookworm,” Loki grinned at the nickname, “I promise to bring it back when I finish and we can have a little discussion about it, if you want?” He nodded hastily before retreating behind his grinning big brother.

Then Bruce wandered over and tugged on Tony’s jeans again, gesturing for him to crouch down. 

“I’m interested in…in bio…chem…istery -biochemistry,” He whispered quietly into Tony’s ear, struggling a bit with the word, “and… nucle…nucular…nuclear phys…physics.” Bruce finished, stumbling over the last field of science more than the previous one, but it made Tony smile softly, it was cute,  


“Thank you for telling me that Bruce. Those are some very interesting subjects, you’ll have to tell me more about it someday soon, okay?” The boy nodded before reaching back and grabbing Thor’s awaiting hand -the oldest boy seemed to be Bruce’s and Loki’s ‘rock’ of sorts and it was a sight that certainly warmed Tony’s heart.

“And now he’s made Brucie talk, Phil, we definitely _need _to _keep _him!” Natasha exclaimed with a grin,

“We can’t just keep a person, Nat, but Tony said he’d come back and that’s as much as we can ask for, okay?”  


“Fine.” She pouted but brightened up when she saw Tony chuckling gently at her.

He eventually left for home, but he was definitely happy he’d found that place and couldn’t wait to go back.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got another university offer -the one I really wanted! It's a conditional offer but with reduced points -so I get a higher chance of getting in- sadly, it wasn't the offer I wanted so I still need to be stressed about exams (wanted an unconditional offer), but it's better than nothing!

His life seemed to piece together bit by bit after his first visit to the Avengers Care Home. Tony had been visiting for almost two and a half months, it was the start of October, and he’d spend one or two days a week with the kids, getting to know them and hanging out with them. He had never been happier; he’d cut down on his drinking and could definitely feel the benefits that came with cutting down on alcohol, _and _he barely slept around. _Even _the press had noticed and could no longer talk about him being an alcoholic womanising playboy. Obadiah was slightly curious, but Tony could tell he didn’t care as it wasn’t affecting the stock market, Pepper was _very _curious but didn’t ask, unless you counted the many raised eyebrows sent his way, and Rhodey, well he had asked Tony about it during one of their, unfortunately, few phone calls, but the soldier had more or less made Tony promise to explain when he had his time off from the Air Force. 

With the Avengers -as Tony had taken to calling the kids- Tony spent time with everyone individually and all together. He and Loki discussed books and had a monthly book swap -it was actually a very good idea on the Norse-named boy’s behalf as it got the genius to read more, he and Steve tended to have a little drawing session, whilst Tony worked on designs for work or pastime builds, Steve’s drawings improved -so much so that the boy gave Tony a very good sketch of everyone together in the living room with Tony in it too.

He and Thor tended to throw a ball about in the garden, but Tony was also helping the boy with his school work and did a bit of tutoring for him, not because Thor was stupid -Tony made certain the blond knew that- but because he struggled a bit more than the others. Clint sometimes joined the tutoring sessions and Tony made sure it was fun (often giving them some sweets as rewards), but when it was just Tony and Clint, they often messed about with the Nerf bows and guns that Tony _might’ve_ bought the kids. 

What Natasha and the genius did, surprised pretty much everyone; they danced. Tony let it slip to the little redhead that he used to do ballet until he was six (and completely thrust into the spotlight of the press because whilst building the circuit board at age four had entered him into the world of flashing lights and shouted questions, it hadn’t completely pushed him out there like building the V8 motorbike engine had). With the information, Natasha had insisted he dance with her and he did with a smile as he easily picked up the moves, but when she asked why he stopped when he was younger, he never told her. He did say maybe one day, but not then.

Bucky and Tony would usually mess around with whatever Tony had built recently; either the designs, prototype or actual thing -of course, it was never anything dangerous, in fact, Tony usually purposefully built things to show the boy. With Bruce, the pair of geniuses usually talked all about science; Tony listened patiently and curiously to what Bruce would tell him and Bruce would listen with a look of amazement and awe, it was adorable.

**——LINE BREAK——**

Of course, with everything running so smoothly, something was bound to go wrong. 

Tony was sitting with Bucky, showing the boy the designs for his newest StarkPad.

“If you slide to the left, there should be a more interactive hologram of the StarkPad.” Tony murmured half distracted as he turned to look at Clint, who had been eyeing Loki and Bruce, knowing the young archer, he was about to pounce and annoy the two reading on the beanbags. He turned back to Bucky and his eyes widened; the boy had actually gone to the left instead of the right and stumbled on a design for a prosthetic arm instead of the StarkPad. The boy hadn’t said a thing, he just stared with something akin to horror on his face. Tony reached out to touch his shoulder and get his attention, but Bucky flinched away, turning his horror-stricken eyes to Tony before stumbling from his seat and storming away. 

  
Before Tony could rush after him, a shout echoed from behind. Spinning around, Tony saw Bruce shoving Clint away and into the chair, which toppled down along with the boy causing a crash. Loki was hiding away behind Thor, who had come to stand by them, reaching over to get Bruce’s attention, only to be shoved away, barely managing to avoid landing on his brother as Thor fell. 

“Bruce,” Tony called walking over to the boy with care, but Bruce ran past him, going upstairs like Bucky had. 

He stared at the remaining children, who stared back at him. Tony sighed and rubbed at his face, not knowing what to do; Phil had nipped out about half an hour ago to do some shopping, so Tony had no clue how much longer it would be till he got back (not that it was the first time Phil had left Tony in charge, in fact, he had left Tony alone a lot with the kids). He held his hand out for Clint, who took it, before Tony reached down to pick up the chair before collapsing into it with a heavy sigh.

“Clint…what did you do?”  


“I…” the boy looked ashamed as he stared down at his feet, 

“Just…all of you stay down here please, I’ll go check on Bruce and I need to talk to Bucky too.” He stood and went to walk away, placing a hand on the young sandy-haired boy, “you’re not hurt are you?” Clint shook his head, “are you sure?” He nodded, “okay, good.” Tony continued walking only stopping when a quiet voice spoke up,

“I’m sorry, Tony.” The genius sighed and looked over his shoulder,  


“I know Clint,” He murmured before sending a smile over at the boy, who was trying to hide his tears, “I know.”

**——LINE BREAK——**

He knocked on Bruce’s door, asking if he could come in but he got no response and thought it might be best to let the boy calm down before they talked. So he moved over to Bucky’s door.  


“Hey, can I come in?” He asked popping his head around the door, Bucky said nothing, but Tony could see the little boy burrow himself further under his duvet cover. With a soft sigh, Tony wandered over and sat down on the edge of his bed. 

“Go ‘way,” came a quiet mumble,

“Sorry bud, but I can’t do that.” Tony murmured, “I can’t say that I completely understand _what _I did to make you upset, but I am sorry. I didn’t mean to make you sad, Bucky.” He murmured placing his hand on top of the lump burrowed under the duvet, “I didn’t want to mention it, but I’ve had the idea to do a prosthetics line for a long time, but meeting you sparked me to actually have a look into it.” He sighed, struggling with what he should say. “I…” he cut himself off and looked down at his lap, feeling a slight shuffle beneath his hand, he realised Bucky was popping out from where he was hiding but Tony didn’t turn to the boy.

“I…I thought…I thought you were…looking down at…” Tony took pity on the boy,  


“You thought I was looking down on the fact that you’re missing an arm?”  


“…yes…” He turned to stare at the nine-year-old, who was staring down at his hand that was on his lap almost pitifully, 

“Oh Bucky, I am so sorry.” Tony whispered in horror, “I am so _so _sorry, I never meant for you to think that way. I just wanted it to be an option for you, kid.” He took hold of Bucky’s hand, “I think you are so amazing, I am so proud of how brave you are. You are a remarkable young boy, who has been through something so…_difficult _at such a young age.” Before he could say anything else, a small body crashed into his. Bucky was hugging him. Slowly, Tony’s arms wrapped around the shaking boy, he wasn’t used to being hugged but it felt nice and Tony tightened his arms.

“m’ sorry.”  


“Don’t be, I should’ve made sure I had removed the designs from my phone _and_ I should’ve talked to you about prosthetics in general.”  


“I shouldn’t’ve reacted that way, ‘m sorry.”  


“Honestly, it’s okay, kiddo. It’s okay.” Tony mumbled into Bucky’s hair, “it’s okay.”

They stayed hugging for several more minutes before Tony pressed a kiss to the top of Bucky’s head and unwinding his arms from the boy,

“I need to go and check on Bruce, are you alright now? Or do you want me to stay for a bit longer?” Bucky was quiet for a few seconds before he let go of Tony slowly and nodded with a smile as he tried to subtly wipe away his tears but Tony moved his hands to Bucky’s cheeks and did it for him, “why don’t you go and find Stevie? He should be in the living room with the others. You can convince him that he doesn’t need to murder me for upsetting you, yeah?” Tony joked and was pleased to see Bucky crack a smile. 

**——LINE BREAK——**

With Bucky downstairs and still no Coulson, the genius knocked on Bruce’s door and walked in slowly.

“Hey Bruce, it’s me, Tony,” He announced as he entered the room, he couldn’t see Bruce, “come on, science bro, can you come out and talk to me?” 

“Go away!” Bruce shouted,

“I can’t do that, kiddo, not till you tell me what’s wrong.” Tony murmured from where he stood in the door frame, Bruce came out from where he had been hiding behind his bed and tried to storm out, 

“I just want to be alone!” He all but growled, 

“Brucie, please, you need to calm down and we need to talk because you could’ve really hurt Clint -that’s not to say what he did wasn’t bad, but you can’t just shove people,” Tony said as he rushed after the little brown-haired boy, reaching out, he gently placed his hand on Bruce’s shoulder, which was clearly a mistake.

The five-year-old abruptly turned and pushed Tony away from him, the genius stumbled backwards at the surprising strength from the little boy, whose eyes seemed almost green under the reflection of the landing light. Tony’s eyes widened as his the heel of his foot no longer seemed to touch the carpeted floor; Bruce’s own eyes looked on in terror as they connected with Tony’s, he seemed to shout something but the older man heard nothing as his body tilted backwards and he was falling. 

He fell down the stairs, hitting one after the other before coming to a final stop at the bottom of the stairs and smacking his head one final time as he succumbed to the darkness that came with unconsciousness. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Caution ahead; there are feels.

As he entered the house, he froze at the sound of Bruce shouting -_screaming. _Phil dropped the shopping bags and rushed through the house; he saw the other children hurrying out to the staircase just as he heard something crashing down the stairs.

“Stand back!” Phil shouted pushing to the front and holding his arm out to keep the kids behind him, “Bruce stay where you are!” He shouted once again as he spied the boy watching on in horror. 

And then the falling stopped and Coulson rushed over to the unconscious man, 

“Oh god, Tony.” He whispered, his fingers hurrying to check Tony’s pulse, “everyone back up. Thor call an ambulance,”   


“‘m fine,” came a groan, stopping Thor from going, and Phil looked down to see Tony’s eyes blinking open slowly,

“You need to go to the hospital, Tony,”

“I’ll be okay, honest.”

“Look, I’m going to get my colleague to come watch the kids whilst I drive you to get checked.” Tony gave up when it became apparent that Phil wouldn’t give up.

**——LINE BREAK——**

Soon they left, Tony was barely coherent as Fury arrived and promised to watch the kids. Phil got the genius into his car before returning to the house,

“I will be expecting an explanation later and then punishments will be dealt out where necessary. Okay?” Everyone nodded solemnly,

“Will…will Tony be okay?” Loki asked nervously and Phil’s expression softened,

“He will don’t worry.”

**——LINE BREAK——**

Tony didn’t have to stay the night but he had walked away with a concussion and a large plaster across the cut on his temple, and a broken arm. 

“Shall I take you home?” Phil asked when Tony was ready to leave, the man shook his head but said nothing, “you’re going to have to give me a bit more than that, Tony.”

“I’m sorry,” Tony whispered, “I…you trusted me to look after everyone, to make sure nothing went wrong and…and I fucked up…like I always do.” He muttered and Phil watched him turn his head away to look out the window, the older man could tell Tony was trying to blink away his tears.

“Tony-“  


“‘m sorry.” He sniffled, trying to discreetly wipe his eyes as tears fell, “please…_please _don’t make me stop seeing you and the kids, I…I’ll come less often…but…just…” he stopped as he began to choke up. Phil pulled over when he saw a safe spot before switching the engine off and turning to Tony, who was doing his best to conceal his crying. 

“Tony,” He whispered reaching out to turn the younger man’s face his way before reaching out to wipe away the genius’ tears, “you don’t need to apologise, if anyone should be sorry, it _should _be me. You’re the one who got pushed down the stairs after all. But, Tony, I’m not going to stop you from coming, I thought you might not want to come back.”  


“No! I do! They…you guys have…I can’t remember the last time I felt _happy_. You guys…you’ve made me feel so…_wanted_.”

“You are wanted, Tony. The kids _love _you. We are all so happy to have you with us. I don’t know what happened today, but I know that the kids can sometimes go overboard.” Tony sniffled but said nothing as Phil drew him into a slightly difficult hug, “do you want to stay at the house tonight?”  


“I don’t want to be a problem,”  


“You’re not.” Phil murmured before turning back to the road and starting the engine, “let’s get you _home_.” 

**——LINE BREAK——**

They arrived back at the Avengers Home, Phil entered the house but Tony walked slower, he was hesitant and unsure of himself, holding his broken arm to his stomach. By the time he entered, Tony saw Phil in the living room with the kids gathered around him and whoever his colleague was, he’d disappeared without Tony seeing him. Eyes landed on him as he entered the room, standing slightly behind Phil, Tony watched as the older man made them turn back to him.

“Now. I want some explanations because in the seventy-two minutes I was gone, Bruce got angry and Tony ended up with a head wound and a broken arm.” Phil stared the children down as they looked away and at their feet, doing anything to avoid looking at the disappointed stare of their father-like figure. “If someone doesn’t speak up in the next ten seconds then _everyone _will be grounded. I’m waiting….ten,” he held up his hands, counting down on his fingers, “Nine…eight…seven…”

“I…I don’t know what happened…because…I stormed off.” Bucky stuttered, stepping forward, his eyes caught Tony’s, who smiled gently at the boy as Phil watched the genius out of the corner of his eye, “but…but then Tony, he came up and we…we sorted everything out…then he said he’d talk to Bruce and I went back downstairs…no one told me anything and…” Bucky hunched over himself and his already quiet voice became nothing more than a faint whisper, “then we heard a bang and Bruce shouting…and…and Tony…he…he was falling down the stairs…” Phil placed his hand on Bucky’s shoulder, 

“Thank you for telling me that Bucky,” in his peripheral vision, Coulson saw Tony hold his uninjured arm out for the young boy, who rushed over for the hug, “now I need someone to fill in the blanks.”

After several moments of silence, Clint took a step forward, his head was bowed in shame and his lip trembled.

“I…I’m sorry, sir, it…it’s all my fault. I…” the little boy lifted the back of his hand and messily wiped at his eyes and nose, “I…I scared Bruce…on purpose and…and he stormed off…angrily…after pushing me into a chair…and…and it’s all my fault…my fault that…that…that Tony…Mr Stark is…is hurt.” Clint could barely control his sobs and Tony felt his heart break, especially when he felt he needed to be formal when he spoke to the adults, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” He sobbed, Phil sighed gently and bent down to wrap the boy in a hug, over Clint’s shoulder, he looked at the other kids, 

“Why don’t you all go and get ready for bed?”  


“Come on, kiddos, I’ll read you a story or something.” Tony murmured, gently pushing Bucky towards the stairs and gesturing with his unharmed arm for the others to follow the one-armed boy. Solemnly and slowly, they did, except as Bruce walked closer to Tony, his hand holding Thor’s, who hand Loki holding his free one, he stopped.

“I…I’m…I’m really sorry,” the youngest whispered, wiping his own eyes from under his glasses,  


“I know you didn’t do it on purpose and I am sorry for touching you, Bruce.” The curly-haired boy shook his head,

“My fault, not yours.” He mumbled and Tony just smiled down at him softly, tilting his head at the stairs, gesturing for Thor and Loki to continue on, which they did and Tony crouched, 

“How about we get you ready for bed and -if you are up for it- you can tell me what went wrong, how does that sound?” He asked gently, Bruce nodded and continued to look down at his feet. Tony held his hand out for the boy, who slowly looked up when the limb came into his eyesight. Tentatively, the little genius took hold of Tony’s hand and they walked upstairs leaving Coulson with Clint and his heart-wrenching cries.

**——LINE BREAK——**

The eventful day came to an end as Coulson showed Tony the spare bedroom and gave him something to wear for bed.  


“Your concussion should be alright now, but I’ll come in and check on you,” Phil stated as he sat on the end of the bed, patting the spot beside him for Tony to sit, which he did. “Tony, please don’t feel like you’re at fault; Clint and I talked things over -he is grounded because he knows better than to scare Bruce, but this could’ve happened at any time. I mean you and Bucky fixed your little misunderstanding and according to him, it was all his fault and you were amazing.” Tony chuckled slightly but otherwise continued to stare straight ahead, he felt Phil place a comforting hand on his knee, “for all we know, I could’ve been here when everything happened and you may have still ended up in the hospital or I might’ve or even one of the kids, so please, you did well today considering it was your first time handling any misbehaviour without me.”

“I’m still sorry, Phil, but thank you for everything. I really am grateful that you’ve let me be here and…and that you didn’t just think _‘oh it’s Tony Stark, he must be doing this for publicity’ _or something. Thank you for…getting to know _me_.”  


“Tony,” Phil started with a slight breathy chuckle, “I know you don’t think much of yourself, I know that you hide who you really are beneath -god- an _ocean _of masks. You think you have so many flaws and no good qualities, but you do. You _are _a good man, Tony, and I am so thankful that you’ve _allowed _me to get to know you.” Phil smiled kindly and it made Tony’s breathing catch because it was a smile of _pride_, a look Tony had always searched for in his own father, “and I am so sorry that you’ve been dealt the short stick in life because you don’t deserve it.”

“I…” He couldn’t speak and the tears fell one by one down his pale cheeks, he wiped them away with a watery chuckle, “God, I have cried too much today,”  


“I suspect,” Phil murmured handing Tony a tissue, “that today was the tip of the iceberg and that it’s been a while since you let yourself have a _good _cry.” Tony said nothing as he wiped at his eyes, “You’ve had a long day, I’ll let you sleep. Goodnight, Tony.”  


“Night, Phil.” He whispered. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tomorrow's update may be up quite late as I have work, but I will get it posted.
> 
> Also this is a Halloween-y chapter and I would like to say that I did write this before Halloween -so it can technically be allowed lol!

The ‘_Incident_’, as it was dubbed, was long forgotten by the time Halloween came around the corner. Tony had visited the kids a few days before the occasion and it had amused him to see how excited they were…and then they started rambling about Tony joining them.

“Tony! Tony! Please, you’ve got to join us!” Steve exclaimed as he and the others bounced on their feet,

“Yeah! _Please _come trick-or-treating with us! It’ll be fun!” Clint followed on equally energetic,

“And why should I?” Tony asked with a grin as he crouched down and tapped the archer on his nose,

“Because it’s fun!” Natasha shouted as she wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning on his back as he remained in a crouched position.

“Pretty please, Tony,” Steve asked as he snuck in front of Clint with wide eyes, Bucky then popped up on adults left,

“With a cherry on top!”

“Please, please, please!” Loki and Bruce chanted in slightly scary unison as on his right with Thor standing behind them, the oldest boy had very good puppy dog eyes (but no ones could or would ever beat Tony’s).

“Well,” he started as he stood up, gripping Natasha's legs as she squealed and shifted to stay on the piggy-back ride, “I suppose if I’m really wanted…” He drawled and watched as everyone hastily nodded their heads, Natasha’s hair whipping Tony in the face a couple of times, “I’ll come with you as long as it’s okay with Phil-” the redhead jumped off of his back and rushed into the kitchen to ask Phil as the others hurried after her.

**——LINE BREAK——**

“Tony is more than welcome to come trick-or-treating with us, but you all need to take into consideration that he might have plans of his own and might not want to come trick-or-treating with a bunch of cheeky brats.” He heard Coulson state with a humorous towing to his tone. Leaning against the doorframe, Tony smiled,  


“Don’t worry,” He winked as he announced his presence, “I can come. Wouldn’t miss it for the world, I’ve never actually been trick-or-treating, so I can’t miss out on you guys showing me what’s up.” Clearly mentioning his lack of Halloween wasn’t the best thing to admit as the kids stared at him with wide and horrified eyes, even Phil looked at him in barely concealed horror.

“_Never?_” Squeaked Bruce,

“Never _ever_, little man.” Tony murmured bending down and tapping his nose gently with a sad sort of smile. Standing up again, Tony tilted his head in confusion as he saw the hardening of Coulson’s eyes and how white his knuckles had turned as the older man gripped his mug tightly, “why don’t you lot go back to doing your homework, I’ll come help in a few minutes if need be, but I think Phil and I should go over the details of our fun day, okay?” The children cast a glance between the adults before they nodded in understanding and left the room.

**——LINE BREAK——**

“If it’s a problem, I won’t come, Phil.” Tony murmured,

“It’s not you.” 

“‘_It’s me’, _yeah I’ve heard that one enough to know it’s a lie,” Tony joked as he slowly walked over to the angry man, gently removing the cup from his hand and placing it on the counter, “what’s wrong?”

“I look at these kids and I know they’ve had _awful _childhoods -some, thanks to their parents. But then you come in and you’d think that you had the best childhood one could have…but sometimes it’s so clear -so _painfully _clear- that you haven’t and…it…Tony, it breaks my heart to see someone as incredible as you to have so many self-esteem issues thanks to your upbringing.” Tony didn’t know what to say to his revelation so he smiled softly, placing his hand on Phil’s bicep and patting it twice,

“Let’s get back to the kids before they think you’ve murdered me.” He joked and Phil shook his head but followed the younger man back to the living room.

**——LINE BREAK——**

Halloween appeared quickly and Tony found himself driving to the Avengers Care Home in his costume early in the evening. 

“Tony, you’re here, good. You can help me wrangle the monsters.” Phil joked as he let Tony come in,

“So what are you?”  


“Coulson. Phil Coulson. Pleasure to meet you.” He stated in a very bad English accent, but instead of laughing, Tony’s eyes widened as he was hit with realisation,

“Holy shit! That’s what you remind me of. An _agent._”  


“Really?” He asked with a sigh,

“Yeah, you do, _Agent._” Coulson knew that Tony would forever call him that,

“Okay then, who are you supposed to be?”  


“I don’t really know, Natasha told me she thought I should dress up as a Hercules from the Disney movie -did you know that Disney _butchered _the origins of Hercules? Because he’s from Ancient Rome mythology, Ancient Greece’s dude was called _Herakles_. Of course, more of the Disney version is wrong, but that’s just a major stupid mistake. It’s like offensive or something.”  


“Breathe, Tony,” Phil chuckled, “But good work on the costume.”  


“Thanks,”  


“Guys, Tony’s here!” It sounded like the shout came from Steve as it cut through the chatting adults and suddenly a rush of footsteps were heard stomping down the stairs. 

“Hey why don’t you all come in one by one and do a little fashion show for Tony, so he can see you’re amazing outfits?” Phil asked them as he opened the closed living room door,  


“Okay!” 

**——LINE BREAK——**

Natasha strode in with a red riding hood cloak and basket, she looked very happy with her ideas.

“Let me guess,” Tony murmured crouching down after exaggerating a full-on inspection at her costume making her chuckle, “you are Little Red Riding Hood by day, but by night you turn into an assassin.” She gaped,

“How’d you know?”  


“Mindreader,” He chuckled, “I saw the dark clothing underneath and last I checked, Red wore a traditional German-like dress, not a black top and leggings.” 

She stood to the side as Clint walked in wearing a wolf costume with a fake bow in his hand and a quiver strap around his chest and against his back.

“Okay, the Big Bad Wolf, who’s part man and uses a bow and arrow when teaming up with Little Red?”

“He’s good,” Natasha murmured to Phil as Clint stared in surprise,

“Woah!” Clint gasped, “except I’m the Big _Good_ Wolf.”

“Ah my bad,” Tony said with a grin that Clint reciprocated.

Next came Bucky, he walked in slowly and with two arms raised out as he moved as a zombie. Getting closer, his left ‘arm’ fell to the ground but the groaning zombie continues until he came to a stop in front of Tony, a cheeky grin on his face.

“Well aren’t you just the scariest zombie.” Tony reached out and smudged some of Bucky’s makeup, making it less chunky, “love what you’ve done with the arm, are you going to hold it or have it detach?”

“The detaching was a one-off, Phil stitched it onto my top just for you!”

“That’s nice,” Tony smiled, “very clever.”

“I vant to suck your blood,” Steve hissed in as deep a tone as the boy could, half of his face was covered by a black cape,

“Oh please don’t hurt me, Count Stevula!” Tony cried out with a smile as he lowered the cloak, “you look amazing Steve, very scary!”

“Thank you!” Grinned the young blond.

Then Loki came in, round glassless glasses hiding his green eyes, his raven black hair was sticking in every direction. He wore robes and a gold and red tie hung around his neck.

“Hello Harry, have you seen Loki?” The boy giggled, “lovely Harry Potter costume, though it’s odd seeing you out of your Slytherin colours.” Tony joked as he referred to Loki’s usual green and silver or black attire. 

“Thank you,” whispered the younger boy.

Barely a second passed before Thor came charging in with a battle cry, barely managing to stop himself from knocking Tony over.

“Let me see,” Tony murmured as he noticed the hammer in Thor’s hand, “are you Thor the Norse God?”  


“Yes!”  


“Well, you look very mighty,” Tony smiled.

Finally, Bruce came out. He wore massive circular glasses over his ordinary ones along with a lab coat and his hair stood up as though he’d been electrocuted,

“Oh hello, Dr Banner. The mad scientist is a good look on you, kiddo.”  


“Thank you,” Bruce whispered with a grin as he hugged Tony’s leg.

**——LINE BREAK——**

The trick-or-treating went well, the group wandered around the neighbourhood until the sky was black and Bruce was nodding off as he stumbled along the pavement.

“Piggyback time, Brucie, don’t want you falling and losing all your sweets, do we?” Tony murmured as he picked him up, the boy barely made a sound and seconds later Tony felt a small thud against his shoulder, he knew Bruce was out for the count and probably dreaming about eating all his sweets, which thankfully Coulson had grabbed so they didn’t spill. “I’ll help you get them settled,” he quietly told Phil, who thanked him with a smile.

As much as they protested, the minute the children got under their duvets, they fell asleep allowing Tony and Phil to go around and grab their bags of sweets, that the children had refused to let go. With the sweets in the cupboards in the kitchen, Tony bid Phil goodnight after thanking him for an enjoyable night.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if there's a lot of grammar and spelling mistakes -I've quickly gone through it, but I'm at work so I couldn't give it my complete attention!
> 
> Oh and I know it's a little early for Christmas, but I couldn't exactly skip from Halloween to the next year!

“Tony, my boy, I know you don’t usually have Christmas plans and that you loathe Christmas galas,” Obadiah started, throwing an arm around Tony’s shoulder on the rare day the genius actually went to the SI building, “so I was thinking, we’ve been meaning to go over to our Japan factories and check them over, make sure regulations are up to standards and all that jazz.”  


“Obie, I actually do have plans-“  


“Now, now,” He chided, annoying the genius as he was made to feel like a five-year-old, “don’t go making excuses, none of us want to go there, but if I have to go to the galas, you have to do the factories. I’ll get Pepper to book the jet and your hotel.”

“But-“ Tony began to protest once more only the older man had already started to walk off, waving the back of his hand at Tony in a gesture telling him to stop protesting, which the genius did when it became clear that Obadiah’s word was final.

**——LINE BREAK——**

With a box of homemade gingerbread men -Jarvis had taught him how to make them when he was a little boy- Tony knocked on the door of the care home before walking in and announcing himself.

“Tony?” 

“Hey Lokes, where is everyone?”  


“In the kitchen, it’s dinner time. Why are you here?”  


“Will get to that in a second, kiddo. What are you doing out here if it’s dinner time?”  


“Wanted to show Phil my homework.”  


“Ooh, what did you get?” With an embarrassed hue, the boy gave Tony the slip of paper that he had been clutching, “wow! Well done, Loki, one hundred percent is amazing, I’m so proud of you!”  


“Thank you, Tony.” He whispered before accepting the graded work and leading Tony into the dining area/kitchen.   


**\--LINE BREAK--**   


"I didn't realise you were coming," Phil murmured as he stood up, the children all staring -except for Thor, who was devouring his food like he'd been starved,

"Sorry, I should've called ahead." 

"No, no worries." He turned back to the kids, "you guys continue eating, Loki, would you like to show me what you were going to surprise me with?" The little boy glanced between Tony and Phil, trying to decide whether he should show Phil and hold off their 'adult conversation' as the children dubbed it when the pair wanted to talk without them around. The genuine smiles he got was answer enough and Loki handed his carer the slip of paper, 

"This is amazing Loki, I'm so proud of you! I know you've been struggling a bit with your division, so well done." Phil exclaimed with a wide smile, "you know where this can go? Right on the fridge -when I find space," he quietly added the last part of the sentence as he turned to look at the fridge that stood across the room in the attached kitchen. 

**\--LINE BREAK--**

The two adults finally slipped away and went to the living room for some privacy.

"What's wrong Tony?"

"My uncle, Obie, has decided to ship me off to Japan for Christmas to work because -and I quote- '_you don't usually have Christmas plans, Tony_.'" 

"Oh." Phil muttered realising why it was a problem, "you need to tell the kids." Tony heaved a sigh and all but collapsed onto the sofa,

"I know, but they were _so _excited. I don't think I can bear their disappointed and sad gazes."  


"You were going to get it sooner or later,"  


"I was hoping never. After all the stories you've told me, I would rather die." Phil chuckled at Tony's shiver before patting his shoulder and standing up,   


"Shall I send them in?"  


"Go for it." He muttered, resigned to his fate, which only increased Phil's amusement.

Soon the seven children came rushing in, fighting over a spot beside the sulking man before eventually getting settled and being quiet and behaved -well mostly, Natasha had placed herself on Tony's lap and was glaring at Bruce, who had wanted to sit on the man because that was the other fate of Tony Stark...he was a chair for children. 

"Okay Nat, that's enough with the death stare." He looked at all the kids, "I have something to tell you and you're going to be very annoyed with me, but please no that I don't have a say in this." He took in a deep breath, "I can't spend Christmas with you guys, I have to go to Japan for work and I won't be back until the 28th."  


"That's not fair!" They shouted, everyone began to argue and surprisingly, Loki and Bruce joined in instead of running to hide from the chaos. Tony let them get the anger out of their systems before telling them to be quiet.

"Look, I am sorry but my apologies and your arguing won't change the situation."  


"When are you going?" Bucky asked and Tony could only sigh, 

"I'm going tomorrow morning. Technically tonight." Tony picked up the box of biscuits he had made and handed them over to Phil, who had reentered the room at some point (Tony suspected he'd been listening in the whole time and appeared when the shouting started), "these are for you guys. Gingerbread men, I made them for you all. I know that they won't make you forgive me, but I hope they're a start." 

None of the kids made a move to look at them, they were looking away with their arms crossed in a typical child's manner of telling someone they were angry and upset with them.

"Okay." Tony whispered to himself, "see you all soon and I hope you have a good Christmas." Phil placed his hand on Tony's shoulder as the genius passed the older man and he went to show the smaller man out, but Tony shook his head. 

**\--LINE BREAK--**

No one was happy. Tony, who was staring out of his jet window at the early hour of 3am on 22nd of December as it slowly came down to land. Nor the kids, who had fallen asleep with small frowns on their little faces. Phil had stayed up late that night, he understood that Tony couldn't just blow off work -and the younger man seemed genuinely sad- but Phil couldn't deny that it was fun with the billionaire around and he'd been looking forward to celebrating Christmas with him. Like a family. 

**\--LINE BREAK--** **  
**

Whether Tony spent the whole of the 22nd, 23rd and 24th checking out the factories and pushing all of his meetings together so he'd be finished with it in the three out of seven days he was supposed to be there -and by three days, he really means less than 72 hours (because it's an 11 hour flight), in which he didn't sleep, ate very little and was dead on his feet.

But successful. 

He had two conference calls on the flight back. Once they ended, he closed his eyes only for the pilot to announce that the plane was preparing to land. With an exhausted sigh, Tony buckled up.

**\--LINE BREAK--** **  
**

He arrived at the Avengers Care Home around 6am, choosing to drive straight from the airport to the house instead of going to his own home. The streets were dark, lit only by the streetlights. A single light crept through the window on the front door, Tony faintly realised that Phil must be awake and making sure everything was set up for the kids when they woke. Knocking quietly, Tony only had to wait a few seconds before a tired and irritated Phil opened the door wrapped up in a dark blue almost black dressing gown. He watched as the man blinked in surprise.

“Mornin’ Phil,” Tony muttered with an exhausted grin. 

“Tony? What are you -come on in.” 

With a coffee cradled between his hands, Tony sat on the stool at the kitchen island as Phil stood opposite him with his own coffee, choosing to lean against the counter instead.

“I thought you weren’t coming back till the 28th.”  


“I pushed everything together -meetings, factory visits, all that fun stuff.”

“Tony, you didn’t need to.”  


“I know, but at the same time, I did.” He murmured, eyes fluttering a little bit,

“Did you get any sleep?” His stomach rumbled a little bit, “or food?”  


“Too busy,” Tony mumbled through a yawn,

“Come on, kids shouldn’t be up for a couple of hours, you get some sleep on the sofa.” He began to lead Tony into the lounge where a cheap Christmas tree stood with multi-coloured baubles and hand-made decorations, despite Tony saying he could buy them some better decorations and a better tree, Phil declined and Tony understood why as he stared at the mishmash design…it was homely. Messy and chaotic, but it gave off a feeling of love within the house…which was probably why the expensive and plain Christmas trees he had when he was young radiated with loneliness and uncaring. 

“I suppose I could do with a bit of sleep.” He murmured through another yawn,

“Yeah, I think you need more than ‘_a bit’ _of sleep. Did you bring any pyjamas? It’s the tradition in this house, you stay in your PJs all day.”  


“My luggage is still in my car, I didn’t need to go home ‘cause I gave you their presents before I left for Japan.” He muttered,

“Okay, well let's go grab them and then you can sleep,” Tony grumbled in response as Phil led them outside into the quiet streets. 

Finally, Tony was settled on the sofa, seemingly asleep and as Phil pulled a blanket over him, he muttered something almost inaudible.

“I’d’ve thought you’re PJs were like a suit.” Phil just shook his head, the kids would be up soon and it was clear that Tony _needed _to sleep.

**\--LINE BREAK--** **  
**

A pitter-pattering of footsteps upstairs on the landing along with the sound of doors being opened and closed woke Tony, though he hadn’t been sleeping for long -barely an hour. Standing up and throwing his bathrobe around himself, Tony wandered into the kitchen, where Phil could be seen preparing breakfast for the kids. 

“They up?” He asked without turning away from the stove,

“Yeah, I heard them on the landing. A bit surprised when they didn’t come down.” Tony murmured, nodding in thanks as Phil handed him a coffee,

“It’s another little ‘_tradition’, _I suppose. They wait on the landing until I get them.”  


“Best not keep them waiting,” Tony said with a smile, he followed behind Phil, none of the kids noticing him, though that was more because Tony wanted to surprise them, as they ran into the living room shrieking about presents before sitting down on the floor.

“I see how it is, no one cares that Tony’s back, presents are all that matter.” The genius snarked jokingly as he leaned against the doorframe. Everyone stared at him with wide eyes of glee before they rushed over to Tony, tackling him to the floor -thankfully, he’d placed his coffee down beforehand. He chuckled as they landed on him, shrieking with happiness and excitement. “Okay, okay. It’s good to see you all too. But come on, let’s open the presents.” 

**\--LINE BREAK--** **  
**

Like a family, Tony and Phil sat on the couch as the kids went through their piles of presents; their grins never fading and their happy outbursts when they saw what they got never lessening until every present of theirs was open. The carpet was covered with a rug of ripped wrapping paper. As they had been opening their presents, Tony had explained ever so briefly why he was back and had the man not known he’d made the right choice coming back for Christmas Day, well the pure childish joy that was spread across each of the ‘_Avengers’ _faces told Tony more than enough that it had, in fact, been the best idea he could’ve made.

“Tony, these are for you,” Bruce said with a smile, a piece of wrapping paper braided into his curly hair causing the older genius to reach out with a chuckle and remove it, 

“Oh. Thank you,” He whispered with shock in his eyes as he took a look at the messily wrapped present that Thor was holding. Tony had been the only one to not open anything -yes, even Phil had- and truthfully, he hadn’t been expecting anything, which was what years of never receiving anything did to a man, so he was genuinely surprised. After opening it, Tony couldn’t help but gasp ever so slightly; the kids had banded together to give Tony a scrapbook full of photos of their time with Tony along with some drawings inside and paintings. It was so thoughtful and lovely that the genius had to try and subtly wipe at his watery eyes.

**\--LINE BREAK--** **  
**

When bellies were stuffed with turkey and Christmas dinner, everyone laid about in the living room in food comas as they watched Christmas movies. It was peaceful and calming, and Tony soon found his eyes drooping as he settled further into the sofa, his legs curled under him as his head settled against the arm of the couch. Soon enough, his eyes were shut, his body relaxed and his breathing even as he slipped into Hypnos’ embrace and _slept_. When a blanket was gently laid over him, Tony only snuggled further into it, but other than that, he was out for the count and catching up on some much-needed sleep.

Phil looked at the kids and raised his finger to his lips whilst making a quiet shushing sound and they all smiled at him before returning their attention to the TV (and their presents that they were messing with).

**\--LINE BREAK--** **  
**

When Obadiah got ahold of Tony the next day, the man wasn’t amused with Tony’s actions -despite the genius getting everything he needed done. Eventually, he just hung up on his father-figure and went back to pasting in the new photographs that Phil had sent him through a text (which Tony proceeded to print out in actual photograph style and continue to fill in the empty pages of the scrapbook because that’s why it wasn’t full). The photos were from the previous day, there were pictures of the kids mid-smile and mid-laugh, pictures of everyone’s reactions when they opened their presents -including a photo of what Tony looked like when he got his present and other adorable images, and when Bruce and Loki ended up sneaking under the blanket and falling asleep beside Tony, who was more or less dead to the world and didn’t know the photo existed until Phil had sent it. 

For the first time in a long time, Christmas had been great and, barring the Christmases he’d spent with the Rhodes family, Tony couldn’t remember the last time he’d genuinely enjoyed the day. 


	7. Chapter 7

At some point, all good things must come to an end. Tony just didn’t imagine it would happen in February, barely seven months after meeting the kids nor _how _it would happen. 

Since Tony had joined the little family, birthdays had come and gone; Clint had turned eight just last month in January, Bruce had turned six in December a week before Christmas, Natasha had turned eleven the month before, Thor had turned twelve barely a month after Tony had met him, whilst Steve had turned eight a few days _before _Tony had met them. Now though, Bucky would be turning ten the next month in March and the little boy could not be more excited whilst Loki would be turning seven in five days -the boy was also incredibly excited and had a countdown calendar in his room.

So there he was, standing in the kitchen talking with Phil as they planned Loki’s birthday, the children were at school as it was Monday.

“Luckily Loki’s birthday is on Saturday, I’ve got a weapon demonstration on Wednesday but I leave for it tomorrow -no need to give me that look, I’ll be back on Friday. I’ve also got to leave shortly after the kids get back because I’ve got to go receive this boring Apogee Award that I could care less about but my Honey Bear is delivering it to me.”

“Okay, but aren’t you going to be tired?” Tony gave Phil the most ‘duh’ look,

“Dude, I can go like a week without sleep.”  


“Fairly certain you can’t and that is not healthy, Tony, we’ve been over this before.” Phil raised an eyebrow, “don’t you pout at me, mister.”

“I’m not pouting.” He said and his pout _certainly _did _not _grow, “_but _it’s a beach party, I can fall asleep sunbathing.” Phil simply rolled his eyes.

**——LINE BREAK——**

“Hey kids, good day at school?” Tony asked as they came into the kitchen, Thor being the oldest, took it upon himself to take his siblings home after school as their buildings were all close to each other, it made Phil’s life much easier -and often more stressful. 

“It was alright.” Clint’s words were followed by various other mild comments as Loki bounced up to Tony,

“How are your last few days of being six?”  


“Good! But slow!” He exclaimed,

“I bet.” Tony smiled.

“So kids,” Tony started as they all settled down for a little snack, “I have to go soon and I’m going away for a couple of days -just for work, I’ll be back Friday.” He wrapped his arm around Loki, who had rushed over to him, “don’t worry bookworm, I’ll be back for your big day.”  


“Promise?” Tony held his pinky finger out for Loki,

“Promise.”

**——LINE BREAK——**

The genius stayed for another half an hour, helping the kids out with their homework when they got stuck before he really needed to get home to get ready if he wanted to get to Las Vegas, sure it was barely an hour in his private jet from Malibu to Las Vegas, but he still needed to go home, pack a bag and get there.

“Okay, you lot, I got to get going now.” Tony stated and headed to the front door after saying goodbye and hugging the children. He had just put his hand on the door handle when Bruce’s quiet voice seemed to rise in volume, the world around the genius falling silent and all he could hear was his heart beating faster and louder mixed in with Bruce’s question,

“When are you going to adopt us?” Tony dared to turn his head ever so slightly, catching the sad faces of the children and the surprised expression across Phil’s face. His mouth was dry and his throat had closed up. 

“I…” He started only looking at them through his peripheral vision and instead of telling the kids something about him not being ready or whatnot, he did the worst thing possible; he finished his sentence with “need to go” and walked out the door without turning around. 

**——LINE BREAK——**

He ignored Phil’s calls and surprised the world by turning up to receive his Apogee Award, even Rhodey seemed mildly surprised, whispering in his ear that he was glad Tony hadn’t stood him up as the pair hugged on stage.

“Like I’d do that to you, Platypus.” Rhodey’s chuckle filled his hearing before they broke apart and Tony gave a very short and _Tony-Stark-Styled _speech…

But then, later that evening, Tony didn’t go and get absolutely hammered -sure he drank a bit, but he had a high tolerance, nor did he find the nearest drunk woman or man to bang, nor did he gamble. Instead he sat around with Rhodey for a few hours, catching up with his friend, who could tell something had changed recently in Tony’s life, but having known the genius for a long time, the man knew it was best to ask Tony on the plane to Afghanistan so he’d have nowhere to run and avoid the  interrogation questions. 

“Don’t be late!” Rhodes called as the two parted ways a bit later and then when he was accosted by the ever relentless Christine Everhart, he refused her advances and went home alone. 

**——LINE BREAK——**

The next day, he raced Happy to the aeroplane and as he drove, losing his bodyguard-cum-chauffeur far behind him, Tony decided to listen to the voicemail that Phil had left him that he’d been too…_scared _to listen to.

_“Tony, look I think you’ve been spending a bit too much time with the kids. You’re only twenty-three and you’ve already given up so much for these kids -you’ve stopped drinking and partying and having sex with everything that moves; since Christmas, you’ve been over five times a week and god, you need time to yourself Tony, I know I do. _

_"Maybe it’s a good thing you won’t see the kids till Saturday, now you have time to focus and think things through because what I saw you do yesterday, wasn’t the kind of thing I was expecting from the man I know you to be._

_“God, Tony, you just walked out on them. I know you had to go and that it was a question out of nowhere -hell, Bruce surprised me with it- but that does not give you the excuse to just walk out the door on a bunch of care home kids. What’s wrong with you?” _Tony flinched slightly as Coulson’s voice rose in anger,_ “Tony, I am not your father okay, I don’t know if maybe you think I am but I’m not, so don’t act like a child. I’m not your dad, I’m your friend.” _There was a long pause before he started speaking again.

_“Look. When you get back on Friday, we need to talk. I don’t know if you should go to Loki’s birthday party because all the kids are distraught. None of them are happy and half of them cried themselves to sleep last night. I have to think about the kids and what you did on Monday showed me that maybe this is all too much for you, so we may need to just…stop.” With a heavy sigh, Phil ended the call with a final sentence that Tony had heard far too much in his life, “I’m really disappointed with you, Tony.”_

The second the voicemail ended, Tony was pulling to a stop with his private jet in front of him. The stop was very abrupt and Tony jolted forward before placing his forehead on the steering wheel. _He would not cry. _Eventually getting out as Happy pulled in beside him and began to grab his bags. Rhodey stood at the top of the stairs leading into the plane,

“Well would you look at that, he’s early for once.” Tony gave a mocked laugh but it was clear that he wasn’t into it.

**——LINE BREAK——**

“Tony, what’s going on? You’ve stopped drinking excessively, sleeping around and all those bad traits.” His longest friend looked at him, “what’s wrong?” And with those simple words, Tony cracked and broke down explaining everything that had happened from meeting the kids and Coulson to yesterday’s walkout and today’s voicemail. Rhodey listened not at all surprised as he knew his friend’s true colours -okay mildly surprised but more by how he’d cleaned up his act than the children. He held Tony as he cried.

“…and I just…I screwed up Rhodey, I do…I do want to adopt them…I do…but I…I can’t…I fucked it all up…”  


“Ssh Tones, it’s okay. When you get home, you’re going to go and make it up to them with a big cake and presents for everyone because that’s who you are, you and I both know that. You’ll always feel bad for the way you’ve acted, but you know what?”  


“What?”  


“It won’t matter because they will forgive you and someday, you’ll forgive yourself.” Tony had a faint feeling that Rhodey wasn’t just meaning he’d forgive himself for walking out on the kids with that last part of his sentence, but he ignored it. 

“Thanks, Platypus,” He murmured, “what would I do without you?”  


“Be naked and drunk in a ditch.” They shared a laugh and drifted off together cuddling like they did at MIT. 

**——LINE BREAK——**

And after the weapons demonstration as Tony rode in the back of a Humvee with several other soldiers -Rhodey annoyed and in one of the following Humvee’s because Tony had been too talkative about his feelings last night and had decided to be a little shit as per usual (looking back on it, Tony would be forever grateful that Rhodes hadn’t been with him)- the world came crashing down. 

He hid behind a rock and pulled out his phone, he managed to send a text to Phil with the simple words, _‘I’m sorry’ _before a missile landed in front of him and his world was full of pain and darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> According to the MCU fandom Tony Stark wiki page, he was kidnapped from Feb to May, so I followed that.
> 
> Also, sorry? Maybe?


	8. Chapter 8

All he could think when he woke up in a cave with _something inside _his chest, attached to a _car battery_ and a strange man was how much he’d let the kids down. He’d broken his promise to Loki, he wouldn’t be home for his birthday. Even as he was tortured, the physical pain somehow didn’t amount to the mental pain.

Soon, Tony gave in, saying he’d build them the Jericho missile, of course, anyone who actually knew Tony would realise that he doesn’t _just _agree and that he clearly had a backup plan.

**——LINE BREAK——**

It was early Friday afternoon, Phil was sitting in his office going through some paperwork and double-checking that everything for Loki’s birthday was good. He hadn’t received a call from Tony, who to his knowledge, would be back that day, and he’d just left his twelfth voicemail for the genius. 

Then the doorbell rang.

“Phil Coulson?” The man in uniform asked,

“Yes, that’s me."  


“I’m Sergeant James Rhodes,” faintly, Phil recognised the name of the man, “Tony’s best friend.”  


“Ah yes, he’s mentioned you.” The caregiver recognised from the way the man couldn’t keep his back soldier-straight that there was something Rhodey needed to discuss. “Please, come in, can I interest you in any coffee?”

“Just normal coffee please,” 

“Sure, please, take a seat,” Phil said gesturing to the stools at the island in the kitchen.

“So, Tones spent the whole of our flight rambling on about you guys.” Rhodey murmured cupping his mug of coffee as he blatantly avoided the reason he was there.

“Really? I find that surprising.  


“He was really upset about everything that transpired when he walked out.”

“I fear I may have overreacted in the first voicemail I left him,” Phil muttered a few minutes later,

“Hmm, when he got drunk, I managed to listen to it.” Rhodes sent the older man an unimpressed glare, “I can’t believe you took the _‘disappointed’ _route.”  


“I know. I know. I…he’s been ignoring my calls, I know he was busy with work, but he said he’d be back today and…he hasn’t replied I’m concerned with whether he’s going to come tomorrow.” Phil looked at the man when he heard his breathing hitch; there were tears in his eyes and his body trembled. “Sergeant Rhodes?”  


“I wanted you to know from me and not the news,”  


“Sergeant?”

“When we were returning to base on Wednesday, we were attacked. So many were killed and…and I watched my best friend take a bomb to the chest.” Phil’s throat seemed to close up as he froze, “I don’t know if he’s alive or dead, but I can’t imagine him dead, he wouldn’t go out that easy. There was no body. It was an ambush to get Tony; we’re searching for him but dear god, it’s proven to be hard.”  


“He’s been kidnapped?”  


“Yes.” That almost inaudible affirmative answer somehow seemed too loud in the silence of the room. Nobody said anything as their minds were in turmoil at the thought of their friend.

**——LINE BREAK——**

In the silence, when the front door opened and seven voices chatting over each other filled the air, the pair snapped back to reality. Phil stood with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“God, I need to tell them.” He whispered to himself as their voices got closer,

“Hi, Phil!” Loki cheered rushing over to hug the man as the children entered the kitchen.

“Hey, Loki. How was everyone’s day?” Phil let them respond as he tried to think of how he should tell them about Tony,

“Who’s he?” Natasha asked noticing the Air Force sergeant, 

“This is Tony’s best friend, Sergeant Rhodes."  


“Call me James or Rhodey, typically it’s the latter that I get called.”

“Why are you here, Mr Rhodey?” Steve asked with his usual politeness, which made the forced smile on James’ face become ever so slightly genuine, “and where’s Tony?” 

“Kids,” Phil started, “there’s been an accident of sorts…” he went on to explain to the children what had happened and Rhodey added to the explanation when needed. Unsurprisingly, the kids were distraught. One by one, they rushed off with tears in their eyes and rolling down their cheeks. Thor was the last one to stay.  


“Is…is Tony dead?” He whispered, eyes wide and horrified, Phil took hold of the boy’s hands, 

“We don’t know, Thor. I’m sorry.”  


“Kid,” Rhodey murmured placing his hand on the twelve-year-olds shoulder, “I’ve known Tony for almost a decade, he’s out there doing what he does best -wreaking havoc and being a genius.” Thor smiled sadly before walking away and going to his room. “I’ll contact you if I hear anything. I’m going back out to look for him”

“Be careful.” 

**——LINE BREAK——**

In the Afghanistan cave, Tony and Yinsen set to building a suit to help them escape under the guise of it being the Jericho Missile; the doctor had already helped him replace the car battery and electro-magnet with a miniaturised arc reactor. 

“You got a family?” Tony asked one night as they played a game, they were slowly getting to know one another as the time passed by in the depths of the dark cave,

“Yes, and I will see them when I leave here. And you, Stark?” Tony said nothing, he just shook his head with a sad look in his eyes as he tried to focus on his turn, 

“No.” He murmured quietly after several moments,

“So you’re a man who has everything…and nothing.” 

The next night as the two ate dinner, Tony brought up the previous nights conversation,

“I lied. Since last July, I’ve been helping out at a children’s care home and I’ve come to see them as my family. I…I actually want to adopt them, but I screwed it up before all this happened and truth be told I don’t think I could adopt them.”  


“So you’re a man who _can_ have everything, but denies himself what he truly wants.”  


“I suppose so.” Tony murmured, “I suppose so.”

**——LINE BREAK——**

Three months after being taken, Tony found himself stumbling alone across the barren land with nothing but sand in the distance. Yinsen had sacrificed himself for Tony, telling him to live his life, _“don’t waste it, Stark, don’t waste your life.” _Yet as Tony staggered across the desert, he found himself thinking he’d fail Yinsen as the sun beat down on his dehydrated and aching body. 

Then he heard it. 

The sound of helicopters.

Falling to his knees, he collapsed into Rhodey’s awaiting arms. 

He was safe and he was going home.  



	9. Chapter 9

He gave a speech and shut down the weapons division; everything was a blur for him, truth be told, Tony felt like he wasn’t there. He was exhausted and just wanted to get out of the public eye. He knew he wouldn’t be able to leave without talking to Obie, so he waited by the large arc reactor; he should’ve left to avoid the uncomfortable stare from his father-figure as he eyed Tony’s arc reactor before buttoning up his shirt in a way that made Tony feel nauseous. 

As soon as he could, he got Happy to drive him home -to his Malibu manor. He greeted his robotic children: JARVIS, Dum-E, U and Butterfingers before getting in his car with Loki’s birthday present -it was a little late but, well, he thought he should take it for the kid. 

**——LINE BREAK——**

No one was at the Avengers House when Tony arrived; the kids must’ve been at school and Phil was…somewhere else. So he sat down on the doorstep, Loki’s present by his side as he closed his eyes and thought about his last three months in Hell. 

Before he left, Tony was broken, but Afghanistan just destroyed him even more. His chest was scarred and he would forever wear a souvenir form that cave -his arc reactor. He knew his insomnia would only worsen; the nightmares would be too strong for him to fight against and he’d succumb to exhaustion in an attempt to avoid the demons in his sleep. 

Minutes turned into hours and Tony found himself thinking he should just leave the present and go home, not out of impatience, but rather as he sat there mellowing in his thoughts, Tony found himself thinking it was a bad idea to go to the house anyway. Yet when he stood up, Phil arrived leading a herd of children, who looked sad, no one had noticed him though.

“Parcel for one Bookworm.” He stated getting their attention as he used his nickname for Loki, he heard them gasp before they all charged at him, wrapping their short arms around Tony, he bit his lip to withhold his hisses of pain as they pushed against his arc reactor and broken arm.

“Tony!” They repeated over and over again as if not saying his name would make him disappear, “you’re back.”  


“That I am.” He whispered moving to wrap his one healthy arm around them. 

**——LINE BREAK——**

They all settled around in the living room, the children had fought over who would sit by Tony but ultimately Bruce had taken his place on his right and Loki to his left. They bombarded him with questions and he answered them, diverting from the complete truth and not filling them in completely because some things, children just shouldn’t know. 

“…but I’m back now. I’m back.” He whispered as the children had all fallen asleep the sound of his voice; it was clear that they hadn’t been sleeping as well as they should’ve been due to his disappearance and Tony could only guess that now he was back, they had allowed themselves to succumb to Hypnos’ alluring call. 

“I saw the conference you gave; good speech.” Phil murmured moments later as he saw the children were in a deep sleep, “that being said you shouldn’t have driven here Tony, you’ve just come back from three months of captivity, you must be exhausted not to mention in pain -you definitely shouldn’t have driven with a broken arm. We could’ve come and met you at home.”  


“I…I wasn’t sure you’d have bothered given…”  


“Tony, that’s all forgotten. We’ve all been so worried.”  


“I’m sorry.”  


“You don’t need to be.”  


“Phil…I…I shouldn’t have walked out. I just didn’t know how to react, I would love to adopt the kids but…I’m not father material. No one should trust me to raise children. Over there…all I could think of was coming home to the kids. They were what got me through Afghanistan. I know it’s inappropriate to ask so soon to me coming home, but if it’s an option, I would love to adopt them. All of them.”  


“I know.” Phil said, “you’d have to be blind to not see that. We can discuss this in the morning. It’s probably too soon, you have just come home and need to get back to your normal life, we can’t just throw seven kids into that. Things would explode. But, maybe they could start staying over at yours -I’ll be there- and have test runs of you all living together.”  


“That would be nice.” 

“You get some sleep, Tony.”

**——LINE BREAK——**

“Did you hear Tony earlier?” Bruce whispered as he and everyone else gathered in Thor’s bedroom when night had fallen and Phil was asleep, Tony too as he was staying in the guest room,

“Yeah!” Clint exclaimed before being smacked by Natasha and shushed, “sorry. He said he’d adopt us.”

“Really?” Steve asked with wide eyes as he’d been asleep when the two adults were talking,  


“I wonder what changed his mind.” Bucky murmured,

“I heard him tell Phil that he’d wanted to adopt us for a while but didn't think he should,” Natasha told them,

“Are we not good enough?” Loki whispered clutching to his brother with horrified eyes,

“No!” Thor boomed only to be shushed by everyone, “I too was awake, I believe he doesn’t think himself to be father material, which is silly because Tony would be a brilliant dad.” 

“He would.” Steve nodded hastily in agreement, “how’d Phil respond?”  


“He said they’d do some test runs, so see how it’s like for us to live with Tony at his house, I think.” Natasha murmured,

“I’m a bit scared.”  


“Why are you scared, Bruce? You know Tony wouldn’t hurt you.”  


“I know, Bucky, it’s just this place if familiar.” 

“I get what you mean.” Clint stated with a smile as he wrapped an arm around the youngest child, “but, I think we’ll all grow to love living with Tony.”

“Me too.” Everyone agreed one after the other with smiles across their faces.


	10. Chapter 10

The first night at Tony’s went well as did the second night, the third and so on, but Phil had also been there to supervise everything; the man would make breakfast and dinner, it seemed like the children had just moved house and Tony wasn’t there. 

“Phil, if this is going to work, you need to let me take control. It’s like I’m one of the children.” Tony said to him on the twelfth day, 

“I know and I’m sorry. It’s just…routine and…”  


“You don’t want to let go?”  


“In a way, yes.”  


“How about you cook breakfast and I’ll do dinner?”  


“Okay.”

**——LINE BREAK——**

A few months passed as the summer holidays were weeks away from being over, and soon enough the paperwork for Tony to adopt the kids was being prepared. Pepper had met the kids along with Happy. Those meetings had gone surprisingly well, of course, they’d both been surprised and convinced Tony needed mental help, but as the genius explained everything, they realised that Tony needed the kids as much as they needed him and that together, they’d be a family. His best friend, Rhodey, had come over to see the kids and thanks to them, Tony managed to repair the slight crack in his and Rhodey’s relationship -caused by the disbandment of the weapons division. 

But the day Tony introduced the kids to Obadiah went downhill; Phil was there just as he’d been for the others -to ensure a smooth introduction- and he was glad he’d been there.

**——LINE BREAK——**

“Obie, I’d like to introduce you to…well, my kids.” Who were thankfully in the adjacent room watching TV, Tony would get them when the older man had calmed down.  


“I knew this day would come. How much do we need to pay the slut?”  


“Obie!” Tony exclaimed horrified, “they aren’t _biologically_ mine. I’m _adopting_ them.” The bald man’s eyes widened and he choked slightly on his glass of scotch, 

“Tony, my boy, I think Afghanistan has messed with your mind a bit too much. This has come out of nowhere, you haven’t signed anything yet, have you?”  


“Obie, this hasn’t come out of nowhere, I’ve been meeting with these kids for almost a full year. I’m signing the adoption papers tomorrow morning. _This_ is something that I’ve been planning for a while now. You can’t talk me out of it.” Phil was the only one to notice how Obadiah’s hand clenched against the glass and how his eyes darkened with something akin to murder and bloodlust. 

Then the shouting began from Obadiah; it pained Phil to watch Tony flinch ever so slightly. 

“That is enough, Mr Stane. Tony has already made up his mind and shouting at him -consequently scaring the children- won’t change anything.”   


“Fine. Let’s meet them then.” Stane growled as Tony sent Phil a thankful look.

One by one, the children trailed in, they had heard the shouting and Bruce was shaking alongside Loki, both of whom were wrapped in Thor’s arms for comfort. Tony headed over to the kids, holding his arms out for the scared pair, who latched onto him.

“Obie, these are my kids.” He introduced them one by one, still holding onto Loki and Bruce. The older man faked his smile and acted like he was happy to meet them but Tony could see through it and sighed to himself.

Soon enough, Obadiah made an excuse and left. Everyone seemed to loosen when he left, their tense shoulders relaxing. 

“I’m sorry, you guys, I knew he’d react badly, but I didn’t think he’d be that bad.” Tony murmured,

“It’s okay,” Steve said wrapping his hand around Tony’s arm,

“I don’t trust him,” Natasha stated in a tone that Tony knew he’d get no reasons why or any more information from her on the matter. 

**——LINE BREAK——**

“I think I should stay the night,” Phil stated later that evening when the kids were in bed, everyone’s curfews had come to an end or was -Thor got longer than the others as he was the oldest so his extra time should be up In ten minutes,

“I agree, I was actually going to ask you to, it’s been a hard day on them, who knows how bad tonight will be.” Tony agreed, 

“And not just them,” Phil added and Tony looked confused,

“Me? I’m fine."  


“No, you’re not. Tony, the closest man you have to a father just threw everything back in your face.”  


“He’ll come around.”  


“Tony, don’t lie to yourself.” The genius ignored him and looked at his watch, 

“Let’s check on the little Avengers, then I think I’m going to call it a night and hang out in my room and do some work for a bit.” He murmured instead,

“Or you could sleep,” Phil muttered into his glass of wine as he finished the last little bit, Tony chose to ignore him though. 

**——LINE BREAK——**

Tony went into each of the rooms to check on the kids; he put Clint’s bow away as the child had taken to using it as a teddybear for some reason before tucking him under the duvet and kissing his forehead. 

“Night, Legolas.”

Next door was Natasha, the genius knew she wasn’t asleep because she never was but still, he brushed a red lock from her face before kissing her forehead and moving on, knowing her eyes were following him out, 

“Good night, Nat.” He murmured to her as he closed her door, grinning to himself when he caught her fighting against a smile as she tried to pretend to be asleep. 

All Tony could see when he walked into Bruce’s room was a lump in the centre of the bed with curly hair sticking out from the duvet, Tony chuckled softly and kissed the top of the boy’s head,

“Sleep well.”

Steve was all arms and legs in his bed; the kid was like Thor in the way that he was rather large and would undoubtedly grow to be taller than Tony (he _wasn’t_ annoyed about that, _honest_). The genius chuckled to himself at the sight of Steve’s foot hanging off his bed along with his arm on the opposite side.

“What are we going to do with you, Stevie? Hmm.” He murmured to himself as he gently pushed the limbs back under the duvet and tucked the recently turned nine-year-old in, “good night.” 

As bad as Steve was, Bucky was worse. The kid had somehow managed to fall asleep twisted in his duvet and had turned 90 degrees in his bed so that his head was hanging off the edge of his bed and his legs were off the other side. 

“How?” Tony asked himself, with a sigh, the genius pushed Bucky around so he was sleeping the right way up and so he was tucked under the duvet, normally someone would wake up when they were manhandled that much but no, Bucky merely grumbled in his sleep and snuggled further into the comfort of his duvet. “Good night, you troublesome menace.” Honestly, Tony was half-expecting to hear a chuckle from Bucky, but thankfully the kid was actually asleep otherwise Tony would’ve killed him. 

Loki slept…relatively normally…okay, that’s a lie. The boy slept like he was actually dead…or Sheldon Cooper from the ‘Big Bang Theory’. Honestly, Loki slept on his back in the centre of his bed as though he were in a coffin and it freaked Tony out. The man went in and kissed his forehead with a small shake of his head at the sleeping boy; he’d never get used to the way Loki slept.

His brother , however, was the complete opposite of Loki and he was worse than Bucky. Thor was just…a mess when he slept. His duvet was scrunched up, pillows were everywhere, there were legs and arms all over the place and yet despite the chaotic manner that Thor slept in, he couldn’t look more peaceful and angelic when he was sleeping even if he tried. Shaking his head, Tony lifted the duvet so that it was actually in use instead of halfway off the bed and placed it over the blond before kissing his forehead too.

**——LINE BREAK——**

Tony found himself saying goodnight to Phil once more before they parted ways and went to their rooms; of course, the genius didn’t sleep, instead, he lay in bed reading through some upcoming plans to further kick off his and SI’s new primary focus, the Medical Division. 

A few hours later, the genius found himself tired and ready for bed.   


“JARVIS, where’s my phone?”  


“I believe it is downstairs in the lounge, sir."  


“Thanks, J.” Tony replied before heading down to the living room and searching around the couch, “you sure it’s in here, J?” He asked and found himself wondering why his AI wasn’t replying as his hand wrapped around his phone from where it had fallen down the side of the sofa, but before he could check on his AI, a buzzing sound consumed his hearing. His body seemed to freeze as a hand gently lowered him onto the couch, taking the phone from him as it rang.

His eyes flickered as the owner of the hands came into view; Tony felt paralysed from not only from the object that actually paralysed him, but also from the betrayal as his wide and horrified eyes stared up at his godfather, who was grinning down at him like Tony was his prey. It was Obadiah.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't hate me!?!?!?


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is quite a long one compared to the other chapters! 
> 
> A couple of Italian translations: 
> 
> "Numero uno" & "numero tre" mean "number one" & "number three" -there's no actual reason for the Italian, but I always try to slip some into my stories and truth be told, I usually just say "numero uno" for no reason instead of number 1 just for the sake of it and I accidentally projected that into this and kind of just went with it!

“Oh, Tony,” The man started as he stroked Tony’s hair, making the temporarily paralysed man incredibly uncomfortable, “you should’ve just died in Afghanistan…or not adopted those _pests, _they’re the reason I’ve…let’s say pushed up your execution. When you returned, I decided I’d let you live a bit longer, just to see if you made any startling creations and boy did you.” A hand fingered his arc reactor, “I was going to wait a bit until I killed you, but then you adopted the _children _and I couldn’t just wait for you to screw anything else up.” He explained before producing a tool and ripping out his arc reactor, Tony released a choked gasp as he felt the shrapnel that had been crawling through his veins pick up the pace, pieces of metal began to charge towards his heart as Obadiah went on to talk about golden geese and eggs. The bald man spoke about his father before he went on to marvel at the beauty of his arc reactor, acting like Tony wasn’t dying as he sat beside him, “…this is your legacy.” 

Something smashed on the floor causing Obadiah to turn away from Tony as the genius’ eyes flickered towards where the noise came from. Tony was terrified when he saw little Bruce standing there trembling and scared with a broken glass of milk by his feet. He wanted to shout for the boy to scream and run, to do something, to _not _just stand there. The smirk that stretched across Obadiah’s face seemed to give Tony some form of strength -that or the paralysis was wearing off- he managed to move his hand and grip Stane’s wrist as he began to walk towards Bruce. Grunting angrily, the bald man ripped Tony’s hand off of his wrist, breaking it in the process.

“-un. _Run_.” Tony gasped out to Bruce, who seemed to have gotten the message and snapped out of his terror. Then the kid did something that Tony had been hoping he’d do the whole time; he screamed and ran away. 

As Stane went to chase after him, snarling about brats, Tony grabbed his leg with his unbroken hand, his weak body being pulled down to the ground as Obadiah moved away.

“Get off, you little prick.” He growled kicking Tony away, but the dying man refused to let go until a kick caught his chest and the world seemed to go white as a high pitched sound filled his ears. The sound wasn’t from the paralysis technology, it was caused by the pure _agony _that he was in. His chest already felt like it was on fire as the shrapnel ran to his heart, but that kick had made things even worse. He let go, gasping as he fought for oxygen. The world seemed to fade to black as he heard strange sounds around him before a gentle pair of hands touched him and he lost consciousness.

**——LINE BREAK——**

Bruce woke up about half an hour before Tony decided to go down for his phone; the little boy couldn’t get back to sleep as he tossed and turned for twenty minutes.

“Young Bruce, shall I get sir or Mr Coulson to come to you?” JARVIS asked,  


“No thank you.” He muttered in frustration as he couldn’t settle,

“Well, how about you go downstairs and get a cup of warm milk?”

“Okay.”

In the kitchen, Bruce and JARVIS conversed as they waited for his milk to warm up. 

“Why don’t you go into the living room?” JARVIS began to say once Bruce was cradling the warm mug, “Sir is in there and I guarantee that he won’t mind talking with you whilst you drink your milk, he’ll then make sure you’re settled in bed and-“ Bruce grew worried when the AI stopped speaking mid-sentence,

“JARVIS?” He repeated himself trying to get the AI’s attention, “J? What’s wrong?” He stood there for several minutes as a sinking feeling settled in his stomach. He was quiet as he peeked around the corners and made his way towards the living area.

His eyes settled on a horrifying scene that would undoubtedly scar him for life; Bruce dropped his mug of milk. Right in front of him, Tony lay unmoving except for his flickering eyes whilst the scary bald he’d met earlier that day stood over Tony almost dominantly as he clutched onto the one thing keeping Tony alive. Bruce was terrified. 

And then Obadiah took a step towards him. But, Tony regained strength and grabbed hold of the bad man before he could get any closer to the young boy, who watched as Tony’s wrist was broken. As the man gasped out an almost inaudible _“run”, _Bruce found himself snapping back to reality. He ran and he _screamed_.

He ran and hid somewhere near the front door, grabbing onto the home phone as he went. He called 911.

“There’s a bad man at home…he’s hurting my…my _dad_.” If Tony ever heard that he wasn’t there when Bruce called him dad for the first time, he would be very annoyed -and wouldn’t care that he was _literally _dying, “please hurry.” Sobbed the little boy as the responder tried to calm him, telling him that first responders were on their way.

**——LINE BREAK——**

Phil couldn’t sleep; something felt wrong and he trusted his gut. Quietly, he crept around the landing, poking his head into the rooms to check on the kids and then Tony. When he saw that Bruce wasn’t in bed, e controlled his minor panic as he knew the boy often struggled to sleep; then he saw that Tony was gone. His mind led him to the hopeful assumption that Tony was with Bruce, but his gut bellowed that something was wrong. 

Then he heard something break on the floor. A few seconds of silence passed before Bruce was screaming. Phil ran.

He saw Obadiah kick Tony in the chest, the man was bellowing in anger as Tony faded into the world of unconsciousness. Then he saw the gaping hole in the genius’ chest and saw the arc reactor where it wasn’t supposed to be, in Obadiah’s hand. 

He didn’t think as he reacted; he placed the muzzle of his gun against the man’s head, which caused Obadiah to freeze.

“I suggest you stop before I have to resort to violence.” 

“You know that I won’t be charged for this.” Obadiah stated confidently with a smirk, the gun no longer touching his skin allowing him to turn around as Phil took a few steps back, his gun directed straight between the man’s eyes, “no one knows about you and those brats, I’ll be able to spin this story. Tell them that _I _couldn’t get here in time to save poor sweet Tony, but I saw you kill him and take his arc reactor to sell on the black market. After all, who would believe that I, the man who was like a _father _to Tony, could kill him.” Phil let himself chuckle at the man’s arrogance,

“Thing is, I’m not letting Tony die, so he’ll be able to verify the truth.” He leaned in close, his voice lower, “oh and you’re forgetting that this is Tony Stark; you may have shut JARVIS down, but you didn’t switch off the electricity.” He gestured with the gun at the ceiling before pointing it back at Obadiah, “just because JARVIS’ security cameras aren’t activated, doesn’t mean that the normal, albeit Stark upgraded, cameras aren’t still active. Smile, you’re being recorded.” 

Before anything else could be said, the police and paramedics came charging in to arrest Obadiah as Phil hastily put Tony’s arc reactor back in his chest before letting the paramedics hurry him to the ambulance. As they took Tony, Rhodey entered carrying a trembling Bruce.

“Pass him here, you go with him.” Phil murmured gesturing for Bruce and for Rhodes to get in the ambulance,

“Thank you.” He mumbled quickly before racing off to be with his best friend. 

**——LINE BREAK——**

As Phil spoke, Rhodey burst into the house with policemen and paramedics following him. He told them to go on straight ahead as he caught sight of Bruce.

“Hey kiddo, it’s okay. Everything’s going to be okay now.” He whispered gently, crouching down to eye level, “do you want to come out now?” He held his hand out and after a few moments of hesitancy, Bruce reached out and grabbed his hand, he let out a squeak when Rhodey lifted him up and carried him. But, he didn’t resist, Bruce just curled up and hid his face in Rhodey’s neck as the man rubbed his back in comfort. “It’s okay,” He murmured alongside gentle shushes. 

**——LINE BREAK——**

There was a beeping at his side as he opened his eyes to a world of white. Blinking repeatedly, his eyes soon focused on the grinning faces right in front of him.

“Tony!” The kids shouted causing him to wince ever so slightly before he attempted to pull himself into a sitting position, which only made him gasp in pain. Everyone in the room froze at his whimper. 

“Here, let me help.” Phil murmured as he helped Tony sit up carefully and get comfortable before turning to the kids, “you guys need to be calmer and quieter, he just woke up.”  


“What happened?” Tony asked minutes later after Bruce snuggled into his side, falling asleep seconds later, “is Bruce okay?”  


“He’s exhausted. Between the nightmares from what happened and his worry for you, he hasn’t been sleeping well -no one has. What do you remember?”  


“I…remember Obie…he…oh.” Tony whispered as his memories came back to him, “what happened when I passed out?” 

“Well, I came down and got Stane off of you. Then the police and paramedics stormed in; Rhodes too.”  


“Why was Rhodey there? And I…who called 911?”

“Sergeant Rhodes was there because Ms Potts tried calling you, but…well, you weren’t available, so she called him. He arrived at the same time as the first responders, who Bruce called.”

“Even though he was so scared, he thought to call 911? He’s a smart one,” 

“That he is.”

“Wait, do you know why Pep was calling me?”   


“Yes, she found physical evidence that Stane was behind your kidnapping.” The room fell silent momentarily before Tony began to pick at the cast on his arm.

“Do you know when I can leave? The arc’s back in place, the broken wrist is bandaged, surely I don’t need to stay here.”  


“Actually, Tony, you do. I got the arc reactor back in your chest in time, but that wasn’t exactly what was killing you.” Phil murmured, “when Stane kicked your chest, he broke a rib, which then punctured a lung and because of your…_surgery _in Afghanistan, you have smaller lungs, so it…wasn’t exactly the…best injury.”  


“Next time, I’ll ask the bad guy to aim _away _from my chest then,” Tony smirked before it faded as it sunk in that his godfather-cum-uncle-cum-father-figure tried to kill him_…twice._ Phil seemed to understand what was racing through Tony’s mind as he placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

**——LINE BREAK——**

It was late at night about a week later, Tony and Phil sat on the couch in Tony’s living room, he’d just been released from the hospital and the older man insisted on staying; so the kids were asleep and they were talking. 

“Do you still want to go through with the adoption or maybe wait a bit?”  


“I’m fine to go through with it, as long as the kids still want me.”  


“I can guarantee that they do. They’ve let the word ‘_dad_’ slip a few times whilst you’ve been in the hospital, I suppose it was a Freudian slip, but either way, they want you to be their dad.” Tony smiled at Phil’s words before looking around the living room,

“As you can see, I called my decorator and had him make the place more homely and child-friendly when I was in the hospital, but…do the kids want to live here considering or do I need to relocate?”  


“I must be exhausted; I didn’t even notice the changes. I think…they’ll be fine as long as you’re with them,” Tony smiled at Phil’s comment as the man looked around, “they’ve done a good job. No offence, but before it was kind of…"  


“Lonely? Fake? A show house?”  


“Yes.” They fell into silence, taking in the changes to the ground floor of the house; Tony had the whole of it changed, but he’d left the upper floor and his lab alone for obvious reasons -they were actually lived in and cared for.

Out of nowhere, Phil pulled out a file of paperwork and they spent the next hour going through it. As Tony signed the final document and neatened up the pile, he turned to Phil with a smile of gratitude, though his next words weren’t a _‘thank you’._

“So I guess you’ll be excited to go back to SHIELD?” Tony saw Phil freeze in the corner of his eyes at his words and withheld a chuckle,

“I don’t know what you-“ Phil cut himself off as he spied the raised eyebrow on Tony’s face, “yeah, I don’t know why I bothered even trying the ‘dumb card’.”  


“Neither.”  


“How’d you find out?”  


“Well, I didn’t know right away -I mean before we met for coffee, I did a brief background check just to make sure you’re not wanted for kidnapping people and all, but J and I ran into a wall that blocked off the majority of your information. We decided not to break through, but that was clue numero uno. Actually, it was clue two.” He added, “clue one was the fact that you managed to find out _who _I was despite the complete anonymity. So I realised you must know people or something.”  


“Huh. I don’t know why I’m surprised.”  


“Then the big clue; numero tre. I may have been barely coherent considering I fell down the stairs, but I doubt there are many people who wear a black trench coat and somehow have it billowing when they walk, so when you said colleague and Fury arrived, well the pieces came together.” Tony paused, “that being said, I didn’t background check you again, but I have to admit, I am very confused and curious as to how a SHIELD agent ends up looking after a bunch of children for almost six years.”

“If you’re going to be looking after the kids, I suppose now is as good as any time to tell you why.” Phil murmured as he took a sip of his peppermint tea.

**——LINE BREAK——**

“Thor and Loki’s mother was a very good nurse that worked for SHIELD, she was a good friend of mine. One day, we were infiltrated and she managed to ward them off and defend her patients, but, she was killed. Then their dad, he went insane. He was physically abusive to both kids, but primarily Loki. We had to intervene when Loki was almost killed. The kids knew and trusted me, so I was put in charge of them.

“Natasha came next…do you remember the Red Room scandals in Russia?” Tony nodded, “we raided one and found her. The place was vacated except for her; she’d been abandoned. It took a while, but she soon trusted us. 

“Steve and Bucky were orphaned and taken by HYDRA to experiment on; nothing bad aside from them being stronger and immune to…everything. Apparently, Steve was a very small and fragile kid with a boatload of issues before he got taken. But, like with Nat, we raided the HYDRA base and found them both. Steve became attached to me, but Bucky took a bit of time. 

"By that point, I was already looking after three kids and thought why not add two more. Then Bruce happened. His dad was a scientist of ours, he experimented with gamma radiation. What we foolishly didn’t see was that he was abusive and grew insane until one day he brought Bruce in with him and there were many complaints from other agents about his dad’s behaviour. We had people watching his home to make sure nothing happened.” Phil heaved a sigh, “then one day we got gunshot reports. We entered the house and saw him putting a needle in Bruce’s arm. It was some sort of concoction based around gamma radiation -I don’t really know, luckily, we got there before it could be injected into him. Except for a single drop. Somehow, that one drop is what makes Bruce have his anger issues -or at least amplifies them; I’m sure when he pushed you down the stairs, you saw a bit of green in his eyes?”  


“Yeah, I thought it was a reflection.” Phil shook his head,

“No. It was thanks to that single drop. But aside from the anger, he doesn’t have anything wrong with him.”  


“Who was shot?"  


“His mother. So he was orphaned in one day -we had to shoot his dad to get him away from Bruce- and I took him in like the others.” Tony nodded in understanding, “then there was Clint. We were after his brother, he had stolen some information to sell and we found Clint, abandoned by the only remaining family he had. Apparently his brother had decided to skip town and let his baby brother take the hit. So then I was looking after seven kids and Fury decided I could be a stay at home mum as we tried to get someone to adopt them; no one really wanted them -or rather, I didn’t want to give them up, I never trusted the people who came to visit them until you appeared.” 

They sat in silence, Tony wore a look of pure horror and sadness.

“Oh…_god._” He choked out eventually as Phil placed a hand on his knee and patted it comfortingly,

“Not the nicest or easiest start to life, but…they’re doing good now and their present is what matters.” Tony nodded.

"At least they had you to make it better.” 

“And now they have you.” They shared a smile as they glanced down at the signed pile of papers,

“Don’t go dropping off the face of the planet, okay? You’re welcome here anytime.”   


“I won’t and I know.” Phil murmured with a smile despite the fact that for him it was the end of an era (or rather half a decade and a bit), but for Tony, it was the start of a new one and Phil honestly could not be happier for the genius. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The childrens' pasts were very difficult to write given that this is a No Powers story, but hopefully they're not awful.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I tried to follow the American school system, but it was confusing as hell so the information may be a little incorrect, but creative license. 
> 
> Enjoy this final chapter!

It only took a couple of days before everything the kids wanted to keep was moved into their rooms; it was as though the final pieces of a puzzle were put together and suddenly, the house became a home. Once they were settled, Tony organised a ‘welcome home’ party for them, he invited his friends and family, introducing everyone to his kids. The party didn’t happen until a couple of weeks after the official adoption due to Tony needing to be in court -Obadiah would _never _leave the prison…at least not alive as he received the maximum sentence, getting the kids settled and of course, waiting until his guests were able to come. 

**——LINE BREAK——**

“This is Thor Odinson-Stark,” Tony started; the day after he’d signed the papers, he asked the kids if they wanted his surname or to keep their own -or like Thor, to have it _added _to their current name. Most of them went for the complete change, primarily the kids who had been abused, but no one simply kept their surname, they all wanted Tony’s either way, “Natasha Stark, Bucky Barnes-Stark, Steve Rogers-Stark, Clint Stark, Loki Stark and Bruce Stark.” Tony went on to tell everyone a little bit about the kids and Phil, who was standing nearby James Rhodes and a tall redhead chuckled as he heard their whispered conversation,

“Oh wow, those names just _don’t _roll off the tongue.” Rhodey murmured with a grin as he took a sip of his beer, the redhead smacked him, “ouch! Pepper!” 

“Shut up,” she hissed, “look at him, this is all he’s ever wanted and the names are fine!”

“I know, I know.” he laughed.

The party ran smoothly, Tony was acting like the proudest dad in the world as he spoke about his kids with a grin to anyone who would listen. It was also the day when Phil became Uncle Phil -or as Tony called him, Uncle _Agent_, Rhodey became Uncle Rhodey and Pepper became Aunty Pep. 

“Hey, Uncle Nick?” Tony called as he followed after his honorary godparent Nick Fury, “Agent Agent said you wanted to talk.” The older man nodded and simply held his arms out for a rare hug, which Tony raced into,

“I’m proud of you, kid.” Fury murmured into his ear causing Tony to burrow further into the hug, “you’re an incredible man.” Tony didn’t know what to say, he was never good with receiving praise…though, that would be because he never really got praised,

“Would you be Granddad Fury?” he joked trying to change the topic causing the one-eyed man to roll his eye, “or I could swing for Granddad Eyepatch?”  


“I’d be honoured, you brat.” Tony grinned and they headed back to the party, but before Tony went off in a different direction, he turned back to his uncle,  


“So…how much of this did you manipulate or want to happen?”  


“I merely pointed Agent Coulson in your direction.” is all the man said and Tony highly doubted that was all, but he didn’t care, he had a family now, he was happy.

**——LINE BREAK——**

And then the summer holidays were over. The kids were starting different schools, Tony had asked if they wanted to stay at their old ones and all of them had said no. It made things easier because as close as the care home had been to Tony’s, the schools they went to were on the other side of the care home, which would mean they’d all have to wake up unnecessarily early five times a week. So they moved to a closer and _nicer _school, where there was a zero-tolerance bullying policy, which made it very appealing as Steve had informed Tony one night that they often got picked on for being in a care home. 

With the first week of school; Tony woke the kids up, everyone in primary school started on Tuesday, but Thor wouldn’t start until Wednesday. Breakfast was quiet as the kids got ready, Thor was up and about despite not needing to be, he’d promised Bruce, who would be starting his first year at primary school, that he’d be there as Bruce was very nervous. 

Dressed and ready, they got into the eight-seater SUV Tony had reluctantly bought -he didn’t like it at all, but it would have to do if he wanted to get everyone in the car. After a short drive, they pulled into the car park. Bruce was clutching Tony and Thor’s hands like it was his lifeline as the new dad looked over at the others; Natasha and Bucky were in grade 5 together but everyone else would be on there own, which was why out of everyone, the two ten-year-olds were the least worried. 

“Does anyone want me to take them to class?” He looked down at Bruce when the kid squeaked, “don’t worry little guy, I know I’m taking you to class.” Loki looked like he wanted to say something when Tony caught his eye, “Lokes? Do you want me to come with you?”  


“I can go with Loki if that's alright with him?” Thor murmured and his brother nodded his head in agreement, “is that okay Bruce?” the youngest boy said nothing as he thought, before nodding his head in agreement.

“Okay, Loki and Thor together; Bucky and Nat have each other. Steve, Clint, would either of you like me to take you to class?” the two shared a look before coming to an agreement,

“It’s okay, dad, we’ll go together.” Clint said with a smile barely even realising that he’d used the word ‘dad’, but Tony did and the man seemed to freeze as a grin grew on his face,

“Okay, well let’s get going. Good luck today and if there are any problems, get school to call me and I'll come get you, otherwise I’ll pick you up at three. Thor meet me here when you’re done.”  


“Will do, dad.” it seemed that all the ‘dad’s’ were coming out and Thor definitely knew what he’d said if the large grin was anything to go by.

It took a while to get Bruce to interact with the other children but a young boy named Peter Parker walked over to him and complimented him on his bag -which was covered with the periodic table and science-y things. It seemed that the two would be great friends.

“I’m going to go now, Bruce, you stick with Peter okay? He seems lovely.” Bruce nodded,

“Bye, dad.” Tony smiled -three ‘dad’s’ in less than an hour, it wasn’t that the kids hadn’t called him dad yet, but they were all still playing tug of war with what to call him.

“Bye Brucie.”

Later that night, after the kids had all attacked him with information about their days and what they loved about it, when they were all in bed and Tony was checking on them before he too would call it a night, Natasha grabbed his arm.

“Thank you for everything, dad.” Tony beamed and bent down to kiss her forehead,

“No worries, sweetheart. You get some sleep, okay.”

“Good night, dad,” Steve mumbled when Tony tucked him under the duvet.

“Night, dad.” was Bucky’s slurred and barely coherent mumble.

From then on, Tony was called ‘dad’ and nothing else. Everything was right in the world.

**——LINE BREAK——**

Six years later, Tony was turning thirty and Thor would be eighteen shortly and graduating. Life had gone by quickly in those six years as the kids grew up, in fact, they couldn’t really be called kids anymore, they were teenagers, well Bruce was a pre-teen. That being said, they had grown into themselves and were undeniably cheeky, annoying and lovable. So as Tony enjoyed his party, surrounded by his friends and family -his mood had changed drastically compared to earlier that morning when Tony was in _mourning _about being thirty- the Avengers, as they were dubbed, sat about with their fizzy drinks and a plate of food each, and watched as Tony interacted with the other adults.

“What about Aunt Pepper? Didn’t dad have a crush on her anyway?” Bruce asked, they were all trying to work out who Tony could date because the man hadn’t been in a relationship for a while -at least not one that counted as numerous times the kids had caught onto some very mean people who were taking advantage of their dad. 

“Nope.” Clint stated as he popped a blueberry into his mouth, “that’s more of a sibling love or at least it is now.” 

“Uncle Rhodey?” Steve mentioned as he watched Tony and James laugh together, Tony leaning against the man when his laughing wouldn’t stop,

“Brotherly love.” Natasha murmured as she ate a strawberry, 

“Uncle Phil?”  


“No way,” Clint exclaimed,

“That’s a little harsh, Clint.” Natasha stated, “but I agree, I don’t see them working.”

“What about that Quill guy?” Bruce murmured as he searched the room for the man before spotting the man dancing like an idiot, “never mind.” The others nodded in agreement,

“What about that strange guy?” Loki commented from where he sat perched almost regally on the table,

“Who?”  


“His name’s strange and he’s a doctor.” He murmured,

“Oh, Dr Strange?” Thor exclaimed with a chuckle at his brother’s description, “I mean they both have an ego.” He continued, 

“Actually, they’re really similar. It could work.” Bucky added,

“I thought it was opposites attract?” Clint questioned,

“Well, yes, but that’s not always the case.” Natasha murmured thoughtfully, “you know, it could just work. So we’ll add him to the list of possibilities.” She stated gesturing for Bruce to write down the man’s name on the list they had actually made, so far Dr Strange was the only one on the ‘maybe’ side -there wasn’t a ‘yes’ section, but the ‘no’ side was _very _full. 

“T’Challa?” 

“Isn’t he royalty?” Bruce asked,

“Could work.” Steve murmured having been the one to suggest the man,

“Write him down under ‘maybe’.” Nat declared because she had more or less dubbed herself the leader of this ‘_mission’, _“can we think of any women? He is bisexual and all we’ve got is men.”  


“Not true, Pepper was suggested.” Clint stated almost too seriously, “how about Captain Danvers?” He suggested mockingly,

“She’s either in a secret relationship with Uncle Rhodey or a lesbian.” Bucky informed them as he took a sip of his coke, everyone turned to stare at him and he just shrugged before gesturing with his metal arm to the blonde who was interacting with both Rhodey and another woman, they were all touching shoulders and looked very comfortable with one another, “on second thought they may just be in a threesome.” 

“Ooh what about Cassie’s dad?” Bruce added as he mentioned a girl from his class, “he’s over there.” The group turned to see a guy pulling a stack of cards out of his mouth, 

“Too dumb and ridiculous.” Natasha stated,  


“I don’t know, he seems funny.” Clint argued,

“That’s because you’re dumb and ridiculous.”  


“Oi!” 

“He’s a no, Clint.”  


“Fine, you win, Nat.”

“What about Cassie’s mum -oh wait, I forgot she’s married to the cop.” Bruce murmured,

“What about Gamora or Nebula?” Steve suggested as he noticed the sisters, 

“a) I’m fairly certain they’re aliens, b) they’d _kill _Tony and c) Gamora and the Quill guy have a weird relationship.” Bucky stated, 

“Oh!” Steve exclaimed, “what about Uncle Rhodey’s friend, Sam?”  


“Hell no.” Bucky blurted out, “I _hate _that guy.”  


“Why?” Bucky didn’t reply, “he could be a maybe.”  


“I suppose.” Natasha murmured to Steve, “yeah, add him to the maybe list, it’s worth a shot. We could probably add the Lang guy onto it too.” She added when she saw Tony chuckle and shake his head with Scott as they spoke.

They fell quiet as they were lost in their thoughts. Everyone was trying to think about who else they could add.

“Maria Hill?”  


“I’d rather not go out with her, she’d eat me alive.” came Tony’s voice as the man appeared behind them, “you guy’s having fun trying to pick me out a date?” they were all blushing in embarrassment for being caught, “you’re not exactly subtle with your staring and everyone but Nat was loud.”   


“I…we…sorry?” they stuttered but Tony just laughed,  


“Don’t worry about it, it’s amusing. You kids have fun being matchmakers now,” he stated as he grabbed a handful of blueberries and walked back into the crowd of people. 

The kids lasted about thirty seconds before they continued trying to pick people out for their dad as the man enjoyed himself and kept an eye on his wonderful children.

“Are you happy, Tony?”  


“I am more than happy, Platypus. They’re the best thing to ever happen to me.”  


“I’m glad. And I’m proud of you, Tones, you’re no longer the little skinny squirt I had to babysit in college.”  


“Oi!” He barked and slapped his best friend before they shared a hug, “thank you, Rhodey.”  


“Any time, buddy.” 

As the night continued, Tony found himself on the balcony looking up at the starry night sky with a glass of wine in his hands. A body appeared on his right and he placed the glass on the balcony ledge as he wrapped an arm around the redheaded girl, who hugged him. Slowly, the others joined them and they formed a group hug.

“Happy birthday, dad.” they all murmured,

“Thank you.”

“What did you wish for?” Thor asked referring back to the candles on his cake that Tony had blown out about ten minutes ago,

“Dude, you can’t ask!” Clint hissed, smacking his brother’s shoulder,

“I didn’t wish for anything; I’ve got everything I could ever want or need.” He murmured with a smile as he looked at them,

“I think you wished for a growth spurt.” Bucky joked, the sixteen-year-old had recently sprouted upwards and a lot of the others had, in fact, Bruce and Loki were quickly getting taller and Natasha was like an inch taller -not that Tony accepted it at all.

“Ssh!” he snapped jokingly,

“Thank you for everything, dad.” Steve murmured as they all gave Tony hugs individually.

“Yeah, thank you,” Clint whispered,

“We’re really grateful for everything you’ve done for us, dad,” Bruce said with a grin,  


“Thank you!” Thor exclaimed as he hugged Tony far too tightly and lifted him off the ground ever so slightly, 

“Thank you for your support, dad,” Loki whispered ever so quietly and Tony tightened his grip on the boy in a comforting way,

“Thanks, pop.”  


“_Bucky_.” Tony sighed heavily, the boy could be a handful at times, but the thirty-year-old could tell he was sincere when they hugged,

“Thank you for everything, dad, you’re amazing.” Natasha murmured as she wrapped her arms around him and held on tightly.

“You guys don’t need to thank me, I’ve just been doing everything a father should. Besides, I should be thanking you all for giving my life purpose.” Tony whispered before shooing them off back inside.

Out on the balcony, Tony raised a glass to the sky, a toast to the world for giving him a second chance and a toast to Yinsen out of gratitude for the man helping him in Afghanistan. He wandered back inside with a genuine smile on his face; life was perfect for him and the Stark family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you've all enjoyed this story, I've loved reading all you're comments and am glad that this has had so many lovely ones. I'm super happy with this story, I really enjoyed writing it, so thank you!

**Author's Note:**

> [My tumblr](https://anxious---soul.tumblr.com) feel free to say hi or something!
> 
> Anyway,  
Thank you for reading,  
Hope you enjoyed this,  
Please leave a kudos and a comment  



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